Name: Lizzie Schmidt
Grade Level: 3rd
Component: Vocabulary Word Learning Strategy
1. Lesson Goals: All objectives must be written as what you expect your
students to DO. Do not use the words “KNOW” or “UNDERSTAND.” All
objectives declared must be those you are committed to systematically
assessing, as stated in your Evaluation Plan (Part 5).
What are your objectives for student learning in this lesson?
Given explicit instruction on context clues, students will predict the meanings of
unknown words using this strategy, with the use of self-check strategies and
reference to resources that help them understand the true meaning of the word and
formulate a new sentence, using the word in correct form.
What Standards (National or State) relate to this lesson?
LA.3.1.6.3 - The student will use context clues to determine meanings of unfamiliar
words
LA.3.1.6.10 - The student will determine meanings of unfamiliar words by using a
dictionary, thesaurus, and digital tools.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4c Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition
and understanding, rereading as necessary.
2. Levels of Differentiation
(a) Student Grouping (Level 1): Name, and then explain how your organized this
lesson to address the interests, readiness levels, and/or learning profiles/styles
of your students. Explain why you made these choices. Your rationale must
contain clear evidence of your understanding of differentiating instruction, your
classroom curriculum, and your knowledge and understanding of your unique
learners.
How will you group students for instruction (by interest, readiness, or learning
profiles/styles)?
The beginning of the lesson will be whole-group, direct instruction of context clues
strategies, and how to correctly use a dictionary and thesaurus. During this time, I
(the teacher) will model how to use context clues, dictionaries and thesauruses
correctly.
Upon completing direct instruction, students will individually read the passage “The
Monster in the Barn” (http://www.ncsu.edu/project/lancet/third_grade/Owl3rd.pdf). The
students will highlight the unknown vocabulary words in yellow, underline the
surrounding context clues with their pencil, and circle any key words (such as “but,”
“and,” “was,” or “were”). They will fill out a worksheet that looks similar to the
anchor chart completed by the teacher that has four sections: I think __________
means _______; Because __________; Dictionary definition; and new sentence using the
word correctly. Ideally, the students will identify the following vocabulary words in
this passage during their independent work: screeching, perplexed, company, and
nocturnal.
Why have you chosen this grouping?
I chose this grouping because I wanted students to understand how to find context
clues, apply them correctly, and discover the meanings of words they don’t know.
However, I want them to be able to practice these skills on their own and develop
individual understanding of new words, and how to find their meanings.
(b) Learning Process (Level 2): Name and then explain what features of your
lesson planning address the 2nd Level of Differentiation (content, process, and/or
product).
Content: Vocabulary Word Learning Strategy – students will predict the meaning of
unknown vocabulary words using context clues, then self-check by using a
dictionary to determine its true meaning. They will formulate a new sentence while
correctly using the same word.
Process: Students will gain understanding for unknown words, use self-check
strategies, and use context clues for both known and unknown words.
Product: Students will be more aware of what they read, and be able to use
resources such as dictionaries or thesauruses correctly.
3. Activities: What are the specific teaching behaviors that will occur during
each portion of the lesson? Remember, if you have different groups doing
different activities, each group’s activity sequence must be clearly
explained in separate sections. This is often the longest section of your
lesson plan and will need to be written exhaustively. Please also include the
timing each activity will take.
Opening: Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to be expanding our
vocabularies, simply by using our context clues and dictionaries for self-check. This
may sound difficult, but you all are capable of comprehending what you read.
What are context clues and when do we use them? Context clues can tell us a lot
about the passage we read. We can gain understanding of new words simply by
understanding what’s written around them. Do you ever feel like you know
everything you can about a sentence or passage, except for one little word? Well, by
reading what’s in the sentence around it, we can figure those words out.
We can also use context clues to double check ourselves, and make sure we read a
vocabulary word in the correct way. For example, lets say this is our sentence
(teacher writes this on the board/Smart Board): “I wanted to go walk my dog
outside, but the weather was too rainy.” Lets look at this sentence, what is it telling
me? Monica? That’s right, that I couldn’t walk my dog outside because it was rainy.
We know we would rather walk our dog in nice weather, based on the word “but.”
That word shows us that we wanted something different than rainy. Also, we don’t
want to get all wet and cold by walking our dog when it’s raining, because we could
get sick, and its uncomfortable being wet and cold. So, lets look at the word rainy.
You all know what that means, and you know it’s the reason why we couldn’t walk
our dog. What if I replaced the word rainy with the word treacherous? That’s a word
we don’t see very often. (Teacher rewrites the sentence and reads it aloud): “I
wanted to go walk my dog outside, but the weather was treacherous.” What can we
say treacherous means, other than rainy, from this sentence? John? Yes, John says
treacherous could mean stormy, because the word “but” tells us we want to walk in
nice weather, which wasn’t there. (Teacher fills out anchor chart.)
Now, lets check our understanding of the word treacherous by using a dictionary.
This book has all the definitions, or meanings, of every word we use in our
vocabularies. The words are listed in alphabetical order, like you all stand in line for
lunch: based on the ABC’s. Everyone, please get out your dictionaries you’re your
desks, and open them to find the word treacherous. Treacherous begins with a t,
then an r….(teacher finds the page): the dictionary says that treacherous means
“hazardous because of presenting hidden or unpredictable dangers.” Would rainy,
bad weather be dangerous for us to walk our dog in? Yes. Therefore, it is not what
we want, like the word “but” told us.
Lets look at one more example. I showed my mother my report card, terrified of
what she would say, however, she just smiled at me. What word are we looking to
define? Katie? Yes, terrified. I’m not really sure what that word means, but I’m going
to use my context clues. What word stands out to you in this sentence? Jordan?
Correct, “however.” After that word, the sentence reads, she just smiled at me. Do
you think the author of this sentence was happy or sad that their mother smiled at
them after giving her their report card? I think the author was happy, and because
the word however comes before it, we need to think of the opposite of happy. Think
about yourselves, and how you feel when you give your parents your report card. If
there is a bad grade on it, how do you feel? If there is a good grade on it, what do you
do? The author is terrified to give their mother their report card, but she just smiled.
What can we decide terrified means? Maddie? Maddie says that terrified means
scared. Very good Maddie. If we weren’t scared to give our mother our report card,
wouldn’t we expect her to smile? We wouldn’t be surprised by it, as told to us with
the use of the word however. Now, lets check the dictionary: look for t…then e….
anyone have the definition of terrified? Amy? Amy says it means “to cause extreme
fear.” Fear is a synonym for scared, so you and Maddie are both correct. (Teacher
fills in anchor chart.)
Main Activity(ies): Students will receive a two worksheets (front and back) with
four sections each: ________ means __________; Because ____________; The dictionary says
___________; and My sentence says ________________. Each student will be given a passage
and asked to find four vocabulary words they do not know, highlighting the
unknown word in yellow, circling any key words, and underlining the context clues
around it. They will interpret their own meaning of the word, describe the context
clues that made them believe that, copy/interpret the true definition from the
dictionary, and formulate a new sentence using the word in the correct way.
Students will be evaluated on their understanding, based on observations from their
independent work.
Closing: Everyone did a great job at finding unknown words and making them
known. This is a strategy that you will always use in your reading, and I am very
proud of you for gaining it so quickly! We will continue to use this strategy
throughout our reading experiences.
Sketch of Anchor Chart: See attachment.
Items to use for Modeling/Student Practice: For modeling, I will use the white/Smart
Board, Anchor Chart, and dictionary. For student practice, students will be given a
short story passage, worksheet chart in the same format as the anchor chart, and a
dictionary.
Important Questions to Ask: Why do you think that’s what that word means? How do
you know? What important words or phrases led you to believe that? How would
you use that word in your writing?
4. Materials: List the primary materials and resources will you use to support
each student’s success in meeting the learning goals (this can include people,
as well!).
What instructional materials/which books will you use, if any? I found a short story
passage at http://www.ncsu.edu/project/lancet/third_grade/Owl3rd.pdf, and this
is what students will use during independent practice to identify unknown words
and use context clues.
Why have you chosen these materials? I chose this passage because it comes from the
College of Education at North Carolina State University’s Improving Reading
Comprehension Using Metacognitive Strategies program. I found it simply by
Googling “short story passage for third grade” and found it to be on-level for third
grade as well as challenging, and an article where students could gain new
vocabulary words.
5. Evaluation Plan: A comprehensive data collection plan is needed that
demonstrates how you intend to provide multiple kinds of evidence to
document student learning in an “ongoing” manner.
How do you plan to evaluate student learning on the content of this lesson? List the
combination of evaluation/assessment data do you plan to collect before, during,
and after the lesson (Examples: responses to test/quiz questions and/or scores,
student work products or performances, teacher’s journal, observations and field
notes, photographs/video, surveys…).
Before: Students will be assessed before the lesson, based on scores in vocabulary
and by running records. These observations will explain students’ abilities to use
background knowledge and context clues to read fluently and obtain
comprehension of what they read.
During: Students will be assessed during the lesson, based on participation and
engagement during the direct instruction, as well as monitoring during student
practice.
After: Students will be evaluated and assessed on their independent work and the
success of their worksheet charts. If students identify tier-1 vocabulary words as
those they do not know, it should indicate their need for extra vocabulary
instruction. Additionally, if they identify the wrong definition in the dictionary for
the word that they find, or if they misuse it in their own sentence, they shall need
further vocabulary instruction.
Name: Lizzie Schmidt
Grade: 3rd
Date: April 22, 2013
Component of reading: Vocabulary Word Learning Strategy
Description of lesson and activities: For this lesson, my practicum placement
teacher had me work with students on construction of “Freyer Models” for
vocabulary. These models are made up of four boxes: definition, antonym, sentence
in the article, and a picture. Students completed these based on the article,
“Instruments of Peace,” during reading intervention in the morning. This was very
similar to the lesson plan that I created, however, was much more text based. On the
day I was there, students were finishing up, so I was not able to observe their initial
understanding or thinking about the activity or word they chose.
Reflection of Lesson 3 Implementation
Name: Lizzie Schmidt
Grade: 3rd
Success of lesson: This lesson was successful, mostly for student practice. I do
believe students took some of the lesson away with them after its completion,
however, lack of time in the classroom did not allow me to observe any effects it had
on further vocabulary learning.
Effectiveness of instruction: The article was not very rich of tier-2 or teir-3
vocabulary words; therefore, I don’t think students learned any new vocabulary
words. It was good for clarification of words they maybe did not fully comprehend.
Students were not really taught (from what I saw) the importance of bringing these
words into their lives, and especially not because the activities were extremely text
based. It did keep students focused on the task at hand and was very academic, but
no dictionaries were used and context clues were not identified.
Evidence of student learning: Students showed evidence of learning based on
their Freyer Models. Students gave examples all from the text, including the actual
sentence that the word came from. However, students did not get the opportunity to
explain their use of context clues or thinking. I observed students’ learning by the
way they asked questions, but they were mostly about the text.
Adjustments for the future: Because my lesson was so similar, it was easy for me
to compare the two. In the future, students should bring these vocabulary words
into their own lives. They should be challenged and fully absorb the new word, and
be guided by their teacher. This shouldn’t be a “busy work” activity; it should
contain relevance and space for students to create and explain their understanding.
They should truly be learning new vocabulary words.