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Strategy Demonstration Lesson Planning Sheet
Group Members: Vanessa Duarte, Aumber Effendi, Chase Nordquist,
Jennifer Papin, Jennifer Vasquez
Strategy Name: Writing as Synthesis: Personalities from the Past (pp. 190-192)
Resources:
Bridges, R. (1999). Through my Eyes. New York: Scholastic Press
Coles, R. (1995). The story of Ruby Bridges. New York: Scholastic Press
Harvey, S. & Gouvis, A. (2000). Strategies that work: Teaching
comprehension to enhance understanding. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Marshall, H. (1997). The Ruby Bridges story. New York, NY: Disney Press
Texas Education Agency. (2015). Texas essential knowledge and skills. Retrieved from:
http://tea.texas.gov/uploadedFiles/Curriculum/Texas_Essential_Knowledge_and_Skills/
docs/Grade3_TEKS_0814.pdf
thewritestuffbyelise. (2012). Ruby Bridges. Retrieved from:
https://thewritestuffbyelise.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/ruby-bridges/
TEKS: Grade 3 - §110.14. English Language Arts and Reading,
(b) Knowledge and Skills
(2) Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies:
(B) Ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories
and other texts and support answers with evidence from text
(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre:
(A) Paraphrase the themes and supporting details of fables, legends, myths, or stories
(9) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction… …Students are expected to
explain the difference in point of view between a biography and autobiography.
(17) Writing/Writing Process:
(A) Plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for conveying the intended
meaning to an audience and generating ideas through a range of strategies (e.g.,
brainstorming, graphic organizers, logs, journals)
(20) Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts:
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(C) Write responses to literary or expository texts that demonstrate an understanding of
the text
(23) Oral and Written Conventions/Handwriting, Capitalization, and Punctuation:
(B) Use capitalization for:
(i) geographical names and places;
(ii) historical periods; and
(iii) official titles of people
(26) Research/Gathering Sources:
(C) Take simple notes and sort evidence into provided categories or an organizer
(29) Listening and Speaking/Listening:
(A) Listen attentively to speakers, ask relevant questions, and make pertinent comments
(31) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork: Students work productively with others in teams.
Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to
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.
Grade 3 - §113.14. Social Studies,
(b) Knowledge and skills.
(1) History:
(A) Describe how individuals, events, and ideas have changed communities, past and
present
(11) Citizenship:
(A) Identify characteristics of good citizenship, including truthfulness, justice, equality,
respect for oneself and others, responsibility in daily life, and participation in
government by educating oneself about the issues, respectfully holding public officials to
their word, and voting;
(B) identify historical figures such as Helen Keller and Clara Barton and contemporary
figures such as Ruby Bridges and military and first responders who exemplify good
citizenship
(12) Citizenship:
(A) Give examples of community changes that result from individual or group decisions
(17) Social Studies skills:
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(E) Interpret and create visuals, including graphs, charts, tables, timelines, illustrations,
and maps
Introduction to Strategy:
The strategy that we have chosen for our project is Summarizing and Synthesizing Information.
By using this strategy the students can really have a better understanding of historical figures and the
contributions that they have made to our society. The students in the classroom would hear a
biography about a certain historical figure (in this case Ruby Bridges). While the teacher is reading the
book, the students will organize their notes into subtopics as well as details. The subtopics that are in
their notes will be the main ideas that are stated in the biography. This can be things such as interests
of the character, facts, why they are well known, and more. Then, under the details section of the notes,
the students will list what they know about those main ideas by adding the extra facts they found in the
reading. Once the students are done filling in their notes they will talk about their responses to the
biography which are basically their own opinions and insight on the story and what has happened. By
summarizing and synthesizing information through a reading, thinking, and responding process the
teacher is able to have the students not only understand the important events that happen in the
historical figure’s life, but also respond with honesty through the understanding they achieved by taking
those notes.
Warm-Up: Poem read aloud,
Ruby Bridges
Ruby was only 6 years old,
When she acted very bold.
She went to a school meant for whites,
She helped fight for civil rights.
Although she was only in first grade,
She acted very, very brave.
She came to school with guards,
Because of all the protesters.
They all yelled, screamed, and stared.
But she tried her best not to be scared.
Brave, brave little Ruby,
You helped change our history.
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Step 1 -- Modelling:
Instructors will ask the class if they remember their first day of school (the beginning of this
school year). They will mention they its normal and common to be nervous/apprehensive in new
environments with new experiences. Instructors will then present the book, “The Story of Ruby Bridges”
(1995). They will then read the author’s name, Robert Coles, and ask the class if the book is a biography
or an autobiography (and explain which is which and how to tell). Next the instructors will introduce the
setting where a young girl (Ruby Bridges) is the first of her community (African Americans) to attend a
school where the only students were from another, separate community (whites). They will mention
that this was a time when people didn’t understand each other like we do today, a time when certain
communities feared and avoided one another, and that young Ruby bravely encountered a new and
very unfamiliar environment, helping begin a new era of understanding and social improvement.
Before conducting the read-aloud the instructors will ask the class if they realize that most
books have vast amounts of information, and that to really understand a story it’s helpful to determine
which facts are more important than others. They will use examples to assess if the class is able to
distinguish such facts (is the color of Ruby’s dress important, is the fact that she’s going to an all-white
school important, is it important whether Ruby has a backpack or if she carries her books, is the year
(era) important? Why or why not?... ect). The instructors will state that as the read aloud is performed,
the class will be listening for facts to sort as important or unimportant on a group chart.
(2) Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies:
(B) Ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories
and other texts and support answers with evidence from text
(9) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Literary Nonfiction… …Students are expected to
explain the difference in point of view between a biography and autobiography.
Step 2 -- Guided Practice:
As one instructor reads the book aloud, other instructors will position themselves near group
tables to assist students in identifying important facts. The reading will be slow, allowing students time
to decide what should and shouldn’t be noted. Groups of students will collaborate to provide the
nearby instructor with sticky notes to bring to the chart. Students will be encouraged to speak softly
with one another to accomplish the task (an example of the chart can be found on page 191 in
Strategies that work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding).
(17) Writing/Writing Process:
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(A) Plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for conveying the intended
meaning to an audience and generating ideas through a range of strategies (e.g.,
brainstorming, graphic organizers, logs, journals)
(26) Research/Gathering Sources:
(C) Take simple notes and sort evidence into provided categories or an organizer
(29) Listening and Speaking/Listening:
(A) Listen attentively to speakers, ask relevant questions, and make pertinent comments
Step 3 -- Whole Group Closure:
When the read-aloud concludes the instructors will lead the class in an examination of the
important facts that have been recorded on the chart. Students will be prompted to “turn-and-talk” to
peers to discuss what, if any, moral lessons could be learned from the story. Then, as a group, the class
will recall their posts, distinguish important facts from minor facts, summarize/paraphrase the story,
and decide on main ideas, themes, and share relevant life applications for any moral lessons from Ruby’s
experience. The class then will be assisted and assessed with cut-and-paste timeline worksheets to be
completed in small-groups. At this time the instructors will pass out the journal-writing exercise sheets.
(1) History:
(A) Describe how individuals, events, and ideas have changed communities, past and
present
(11) Citizenship:
(A) Identify characteristics of good citizenship, including truthfulness, justice, equality,
respect for oneself and others, responsibility in daily life, and participation in
government by educating oneself about the issues, respectfully holding public officials to
their word, and voting;
(B) identify historical figures such as Helen Keller and Clara Barton and contemporary
figures such as Ruby Bridges and military and first responders who exemplify good
citizenship
(12) Citizenship:
(A) Give examples of community changes that result from individual or group decisions
(17) Social Studies skills:
(E) Interpret and create visuals, including graphs, charts, tables, timelines, illustrations,
and maps
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(31) Listening and Speaking/Teamwork: Students work productively with others in teams.
Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to
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.
Step 4 -- Independent Practice:
Students will be asked to follow the reading activity up with a writing exercise that
demonstrates higher-order thinking skills. They will be asked to choose the perspective of an in-person
witness to Ruby’s first day of school, or that of Ruby herself. Using the group chart of important facts
and main ideas, they will be expected to write their thoughts of that day and its events in the style of a
reflective journal entry (3 to 5 sentences). The writing artifacts will be collected and later assessed for
story setting comprehension and for grade-appropriate writing conventions.
(20) Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts:
(C) Write responses to literary or expository texts that demonstrate an understanding of
the text
(23) Oral and Written Conventions/Handwriting, Capitalization, and Punctuation:
(B) Use capitalization for:
(i) geographical names and places;
(ii) historical periods; and
(iii) official titles of people
Step 5 -- Application of Strategy:
Some students may feel reluctant to volunteer important fact suggestions for fear of being
wrong. This can be countered by asking students to volunteer suggestions for both important and minor
facts. In this way, students may feel relaxed about participating in whole group discussion. Other
considerations for hearing-impaired students may include an American sign-language specialist; for
special education students close assistance with the writing exercise can be provided; and for highaptitude students difficult perspectives (like historic advocates or figureheads for racial equality) can be
suggested. In subsequent reading comprehension exercises students should be reminded to identify
important facts, and in subsequent writing exercises students should be reminded to consider multiple
perspectives.
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Comments/Cautions:
This lesson contains an examination of a historical contexts that include racial prejudices and
inequalities. Multicultural awareness and sensitivity is crucial.