Name: Nicole Provost
Grade Level: 6th grade
Date: April 2, 2014
Length: 45 minutes
Title/theme/focus of lesson: Expanding Sentences
Common Core State Standards for Language Arts:
ELA-Literacy: W.6.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
ELA-Literacy: W.6.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and
strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
Learning outcomes/objectives:
Students will be able to explain verbally and in writing four parts of speech: verb, adverbs,
nouns, and adjectives.
Students will be able to construct and expand four sentences using descriptive language while
identifying the four parts of speech.
Vocabulary: Noun, verb, adverb, adjective, descriptive language
Assessment:
Diagnostic: Students will be asked to share the definition of each part of speech with their
academic/ elbow partner. The teacher will circulate while students are sharing to listen and
diagnose student’s background knowledge.
Formative: Students will create a ‘jazzy sentence’ with their table group on large pieces of
construction paper. These will be shared with the whole class.
Summative: Students will create two more ‘jazzy sentences’ that they did not already create with
their entire group.
Materials: Paper, construction paper, pencils, markers
Room Environment: Students will stay seated in their table groups throughout the lesson. The
board will be labeled ‘Silly Sentence’, ‘noun, adjective, verb, and adverb’, and ‘Jazzy Sentence’.
The example sentence will be written on the whiteboard for the teacher example. The six
questions to ask when writing descriptively will be written on construction paper for reference
throughout the activity: who, what, where, when, why and how.
Modifications for diverse learners:
ELLS: The vocabulary words are being frontloaded, reviewed, and described before students are
responsible for completing an example on their own. The posters and definitions will be left up
throughout the activity for students to reference if necessary.
Special Needs: Examples are done and the lesson is scaffolded in order for these students and
the rest of the class to be successful. The individual part of the lesson is labeled in order to guide
student thinking.
Multiple Intelligences: This information is given both verbally and in writing for the visual and
auditory listeners. Examples of each part of speech will also be identified for the visual learners.
Students will work in partners and table groups so the intrapersonal learners will be more
successful.
GATE: These students will be challenged to create a simple sentence on their own and then
‘jazz it up’ using the method that was demonstrated and practiced.
Instructional Procedure:
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Anticipatory Set/Orientation: Jazz music will begin playing and will continue to play for
about 1 minute. The teacher will then explain that today we are going to ‘jazz up’ our
sentences in order to improve our riding and create better pictures for our audience and
readers.
Teaching/Instructional Process (input and modeling): The teacher will explain the
importance of using descriptive language while writing, despite the type of writing that is
occurring. The description is what paints the picture for the reader. The six questions to
ask yourself while writing descriptively will then be stated and examples will be used.
The teacher will then ask students to name as many parts of speech that they can. The
definitions of a verb, noun, adjective, and adverb will then be shared with the class. If
these parts of speech weren’t listed out loud the teacher will then share this vocabulary
and definitions with students and explain to them that these four parts of speech is what
we will be focusing on today. The teacher will then write a simple sentence on the board:
The man went to the store. The nouns and verbs will then be identified in the sentence by
the teacher and they will then use a think aloud strategy to demonstrate how to expand
the sentence. A list of nouns to replace the nouns man and store will be made and a list of
words to replace the verb went will also be made. Then adverbs and adjectives will be
brainstormed and listed on the poster board. The teacher will then demonstrate how to
use these lists to compile and create a ‘jazzy sentence’.
Guided Practice and Monitoring: The teacher will then put a second simple sentence on
the board: ‘We ate it’. Students will discuss with a partner and identify the verbs and
nouns of the sentence. The teacher will then ask a student to identify the parts of speech
for everyone out loud. Together the class will then brainstorm other words and
descriptive language to add to the sentence, using the six questions to guide their thinking
and brainstorming. These words will be written on the board and then each table group
will be responsible for creating a ‘jazzy sentence’ using the words that are listed on the
board. Each table group will then write their sentence on a small whiteboard and share
the sentence they created with the class.
Monitoring/Check for understanding: The teacher will walk around and check on student
progress and understanding. Lists of adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs will be
checked for as the teacher circulates. ‘Jazzy sentences’ will then be shared with the class.
Closure: Students will then illustrate their sentence and will be asked to share them with
the class.
Independent Practice: The simple sentences: the girl sang a song, my dog chased a car,
and the cat ate the bug will then be shown to students. They will pick a sentence and
make it ‘jazzy’ using the listing method that was done above.
Sources: Lesson was adapted from Learnnc.org ‘Jazzy Sentences’
Name: ______________________
“Jazzy Sentences”
Simple Sentence:
_____________________________________________________________________
Nouns:
Verbs:
Adjectives:
Adverbs:
Circle the words you are using to ‘jazz up’ your sentence, and then write it below:
_____________________________________________________________________________