Book Club Unit “Frindle”
Fourth Grade at Attwood Elementary
Part A
The Grade Level Content Expectations we will be working towards:
-
R.CM.04.01: connect personal knowledge, experiences, and understanding of the world to themes and
perspectives in text through oral and written responses.
S.DS.04.01: engage in interactive, extended discourse to socially construct meaning in book clubs,
literature circles, partnerships, or other conversation protocols.
L.RP.04.05: respond to and summarize the major ideas and evidence presented in spoken messages and
formal presentations.
L.CN.04.02: listen to or view critically while demonstrating appropriate social skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye contact, attentive, supportive) in small and large group settings.
W.PR.04.02: Apply a variety of pre-writing strategies for both narrative and informational writing (e.g.,
graphic organizers such as maps, webs, Venn diagrams) in order to generate, sequence, and structure
ideas (e.g., plot, setting, conflicts/resolutions).
Unit Goals:
-
-
Sharing what you read: Students will develop skills to talk about books. They will learn how to explain
relationships, understandings and their insights to others. Students will also learn the routine and
structure of book club so that future book clubs can be created out of what they are learning. My
students are very social and verbal, but not in the context of sharing knowledge. When it comes to
sharing what they “know,” they shut down. Mastery of this skill may also help students feel more
confident.
Discussion Skills: Students will learn and develop the skills needed to have effective discussions. We
will spend time talking about the components of a successful discussion. This is an important goal
because mastering discussion skills is essential towards success in future book clubs.
Graphic Organizers: Students will learn how to use charts and organizers to make sense of what they
are reading. A majority of my students are very unorganized, I hope that this will help them with reading
and writing and other areas.
Making connections: Students will work on making personal, text and text to text connections. This is a
strategy that will start to build but will continue throughout future book clubs. We want students to start
making connections to build understanding.
Rationale:
I am teaching this unit for a few reasons. The main focus is to teach discussion skills. I want students to
walk away from this unit with a strong understanding of how to have a proper discussion. I want them to
understand what goes in to a successful discussion so that they can create their own discussions in the future.
Skills such as listening, participating and responding are crucial to their success in my classroom and in future
classrooms. Teaching the fourth graders the importance of sharing listening and talk time will be a struggle. I
have two students that love to dominate and the rest tend to take a back seat. Another reason for this lesson is to
teach the importance of routine. I hope that a structure, such as book club will help them learn routine and see
that it does help us be successful.
Finally, I want to touch on organization. My students are a bit scatterbrained, and I think this has a lot to
do with my group being fourth graders. The quick pace that our class runs at is overwhelming for them. I hope
that providing them with tools to organize their thoughts and work will help them manage the pace of the class.
I want to teach a variety of graphic organizers to the students to help them sort out their information. We
recently did a “Go Map” organizer to help with writing summaries. After doing this, their summaries had
improved along the lines of organization. Overall, my goal is to combine these three ideas to create a concise
unit that will be a springboard into higher level ideas as the year goes on.
Unit Overview:
The week before we read students will start pre-reading the book. The Friday before class, October 29, I
will ask students to read the first chapter. The reason for pre-reading is so that students have a smooth
transition from MEAP to book club. We want to give students that week to make up MEAP tests and get MEAP
out of their systems.
Day
11.1
(1)
GLCE
R.CM.04.01 Connect personal
knowledge,
experiences, and
understanding of the
world to themes and
perspectives in text
through oral and
written responses.
Activity
Introduce book club
routine to students:
- We will have
discussions
- We participate
- We share our thoughts
- We dig deep to
understand the book
- We will not read ahead
a spoil the story
These “We” statements
will be posted during
book club.
Pass out Frindle
Folders. This is to help
students understand
their reading and have
focus questions during
discussion. The folders
have worksheets and
loose sheets of paper
already in them.
Students can decorate
their folder as they
please.
Read chapter 1 aloud. In
case students did not
read, I want them to be
on the same page. This
is also a great modeling
review for everyone.
Materials
Frindle
books
Objective
Focus: Introduce
and Discussion
Frindle
Folders
Students will
develop a basic
understanding for
book club routines
by listening to the
rules and routines
and asking when
they are unsure of
expectations.
Assessment
This is an
introduction day;
however, I will
pay attention to
how students
participate in
discussion.
11.3
(2)
L.CN.04.02: listen to
or view critically
while demonstrating
appropriate social
skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye
contact, attentive,
supportive) in small
and large group
settings.
L.RP.04.05: respond
to and summarize the
major ideas and
evidence presented in
spoken messages and
formal presentations.
(chapter 2/3 hw)
Ask them to come over
to the carpet and start
talking about chapter
2/3. (This should be a
problem. The goal is for
students to see that we
need guidelines for
discussion)
Brainstorm in our
journals “what worked
and what didn’t work
about our discussion?”
If time: Have students
shared their ideas. These
ideas will be written on
the white board
We will watch the fifth
graders have a
discussion about their
book
Frindle
books
Look and
Sound Like
worksheet
Frindle
Folders
Focus: Learning
the components of
discussion
Students will break
apart the
components of a
good discussion by
interacting in a
discussion and
reflecting on their
experience.
Students will
brainstorm what
makes a good
discussion by
thinking about
what a discussion
looks and sounds
like.
How do students
interact?
Are they
participating,
sharing ideas?
I will assess the
above questions
by taking notes; I
have created a
folder that I can
take notes in
during the book
club about their
participation and
progress.
Frindle Folder
check – checking
for work, not for
correctness.
After we watch the fifth
graders, we create a
chart including what
does a discussion look
like and sound like?
Reflect on the
discussion that we had,
what worked there?
11.4
(3)
L.CN.04.02: listen to
or view critically
while demonstrating
appropriate social
skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye
contact, attentive,
supportive) in small
and large group
settings.
L.RP.04.05: respond
to and summarize the
major ideas and
Read chapter 4
(chapter 5 hw, Look and
Sound Like worksheet)
Discuss and compile
Look and Sound Like
worksheet.
Ask them why we took
the time to talk about
discussion.
The chart we create will
be left up for all of book
club.
Review chapters 4 and 5
Make character chart
Large piece Students will break
of poster
apart the
paper
components of a
good discussion by
Frindle
interacting in a
books
discussion and
reflecting on their
Frindle
experience.
Folders
Students will
brainstorm what
makes a good
discussion by
thinking about
what a discussion
I will collect the
character charts. I
am looking for
completeness and
the connections
they made with
their character.
evidence presented in
spoken messages and
formal presentations.
Connect to talk
characters asking “Do
any of the characters
remind you of people
you know?”
looks and sounds
like.
Students will make
personal
connections to a
character from the
book to better
comprehend.
After students fill out
their chart, they will
share with their partner,
THINK, PAIR, SHARE
(chapter 6 hw,
comprehension packet)
11.5
(4)
11.8
(5)
W.PR.04.02 - Apply
a variety of prewriting strategies for
both narrative and
informational writing
(e.g., graphic
organizers such as
maps, webs, Venn
diagrams) in order to
generate, sequence,
and structure ideas
(e.g., plot, setting,
conflicts/resolutions).
L.CN.04.02: listen to
or view critically
while demonstrating
appropriate social
skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye
contact, attentive,
supportive) in small
and large group
settings.
L.RP.04.05: respond
to and summarize the
major ideas and
evidence presented in
spoken messages and
formal presentations.
Review chapter 6
Frindle
books
Work on Frindle Folder
Make a chart of the
main events up to
chapter 6. Make
predictions. Share
predictions.
Frindle
Folders
Read chapter 7 in class
Connect with personal
knowledge – go home
and ask someone if used
any made up words
when you were little
(chapter 8 hw)
Warm up: Write about
the made up word you
used
On a note card, write the
made up word. On the
back, write what it
means.
Discussion: Talk about
our made up words.
During discussion, we
will toss a spool of yarn.
This will helps students
see who dominates
discussion. Discussion
Frindle
books
Frindle
Folders
Note cards
Students will
develop discussion
skills by
participating in
Think, Pair, and
Share.
Students will use
organizers to
understand the
sequence of
events.
I will pay
attention to what
students think are
the main ideas.
This will help me
see if they
Students will begin understand what
to learn techniques they are reading.
to help them sort
If this is a
out key events by
challenge, I will
reading critically talk to them about
and sharing ideas the importance of
with students.
taking notes in
their Frindle
Folder’s and
answering the
discussion
questions.
Students will make
This is another
personal
discussion I will
connections to the
take notes on. I
text by coming up will compare the
with their own
notes taken in this
made up word like discussion to the
Nick.
first discussion.
Students will
continue to
develop their
discussion skills as
they talk about
their made up
word and the
connections they
have to it.
should be a group effort.
S.DS.04.01: engage
in interactive,
extended discourse to
socially construct
meaning in book
clubs, literature
circles, partnerships,
or other conversation
protocols.
Students will
understand that
dominating the
conversation if not
an effective way to
communicate by
watching how the
yarn travels.
Reflect on the yarn.
How did our discussion
go?
Read chapter 9 as a
class.
(chapter 10 hw)
11.9
(6)
L.CN.04.02: listen to
or view critically
while demonstrating
appropriate social
skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye
contact, attentive,
supportive) in small
and large group
settings.
S.DS.04.01: engage
in interactive,
extended discourse to
socially construct
meaning in book
clubs, literature
circles, partnerships,
or other conversation
protocols.
W.PR.04.02: Apply a
variety of pre-writing
strategies for both
narrative and
informational writing
(e.g., graphic
organizers such as
maps, webs, Venn
diagrams) in order to
generate, sequence,
and structure ideas
(e.g., plot, setting,
conflicts/resolutions,
Students will
understand the
importance that
everyone shares as
we reflect and
create sharing
guidelines.
Review chapter 10 and
work on Frindle folders.
Frindle
books
Introduce the story Mrs.
Nelson.
Frindle
Folders
Read aloud.
Miss.
Nelson is
Missing
Ask students to make
connections with Mrs.
Granger and Miss.
Nelson.
Make a Venn Diagram
as a class.
Share diagrams.
Start chapter 11
(hw if not finished)
Students will be
able to make text
to text connections
to understand the
story.
Students will work
with graphic
organizers to sort
out their ideas.
I will collect the
Venn Diagrams
and check for
completeness.
Students are
expected to fill
out the diagram.
I will also take
notes on this
discussion so that
I can compare the
way the talk
about the
character to past
discussions.
11.10
(7)
S.DS.04.01: engage
in interactive,
extended discourse to
socially construct
meaning in book
clubs, literature
circles, partnerships,
or other conversation
protocols.
L.CN.04.02: listen to
or view critically
while demonstrating
appropriate social
skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye
contact, attentive,
supportive) in small
and large group
settings.
Introduce Fishbowl!
Have students put chairs
in a circle, explain the
rules of fishbowl. Write
the rules on the board.
Frindle
books
Frindle
Folders
Tell them that this is a
practice. We are going
to try our best.
Students will build
and learn the skills
that are needed to
participate in
fishbowl by
watching how I
model and by
participating.
This will be one
of the discussions
I take notes on. I
will take notes on
participation,
whether their
ideas are relevant
and if they are
following routine.
Students will
generate
thoughtful ideas
about the text by
sharing with other
students and by
listening to other
student’s
connections and
thoughts.
There will be a list of
prompts on the board for
them to talk about.
We will do this for 20
minutes.
Discuss about what
happened, what we saw.
Time to read
individually and fill out
Frindle Folders.
11.11
(8)
W.PR.04.02: Apply a
variety of pre-writing
strategies for both
narrative and
informational writing
(e.g., graphic
organizers such as
maps, webs, Venn
diagrams) in order to
generate, sequence,
and structure ideas
(e.g., plot, setting,
conflicts/resolutions.
S.DS.04.01: engage
in interactive,
extended discourse to
socially construct
meaning in book
clubs, literature
circles, partnerships,
or other conversation
protocols.
Chapter 12 and 13
Review Chapters 12 and
13
Frindle
books
Start working on
sequencing.
Frindle
Folders
What is sequence? Why
is it important?
It is similar to events.
Comic
Strip paper
Introduce comic strip.
Pick the 6 main events
and create a comic strip.
Show an example.
Brainstorm the first
main idea. Write main
ideas on white board.
Choose one as a class
and create one of the
comic strip squares.
Give the rest of the time
to work on the comic
Students will use
context clues,
discussion and
connections to sort
of the key events
of the story to
create a sequence
of events.
Students will use
the comic strip
organizer to make
sense of their
information so it is
easier for them to
compile.
I will assess the
amount of work
students were
able to get done
during the time.
Were they
working on
sequencing the
events? Did they
get the draft for
strip one and two
done?
strip.
Let them know that the
comic strip is due
Monday, November 15.
11.12
(9)
11.13
(10)
S.DS.04.01: engage
in interactive,
extended discourse to
socially construct
meaning in book
clubs, literature
circles, partnerships,
or other conversation
protocols.
S.DS.04.01: engage
in interactive,
extended discourse to
socially construct
meaning in book
clubs, literature
circles, partnerships,
or other conversation
protocols.
W.PR.04.02: Apply a
variety of pre-writing
strategies for both
narrative and
informational writing
(e.g., graphic
organizers such as
maps, webs, Venn
diagrams) in order to
generate, sequence,
and structure ideas
(e.g., plot, setting,
conflicts/resolutions.
(hw chapter 14, Frindle
Folder)
Review chapter 14
Fishbowl Discussion.
Talk about key points
from chapter 14.
Prompts will be written
on the board.
Frindle
books
Frindle
Folders
Continue work on comic
strip.
Read aloud the last
chapter.
Frindle
books
End up book club
discussion.
Frindle
Folders
Have students reflect on
the book in their folder.
Ask them to think about
what they liked, how it
ended, etc.
Ask for thoughts about
the book. Share ideas
and have a mini
discussion. Ask for
unanswered questions.
Give students the rest of
the time to work on
comic strips.
Students will build
and learn the skills
that are needed to
participate in
fishbowl by
watching how I
model and by
participating.
Students will
generate
thoughtful ideas
about the text by
sharing with other
students and by
listening to other
students’
connections and
thoughts.
Students will
discuss about their
reactions to the
book and share
their opinions with
the group.
I will compare
how students did
in the first
fishbowl
compared to the
second.
For the student
reflection, I will
expect a
paragraph
reflection on the
book.
Sample Lesson Plans:
Discussions Start with Self Control
Date: Day 5, November 8
Objective(s) for today’s lesson:
-
L.CN.04.02: listen to or view critically while demonstrating appropriate social skills of audience
behaviors (e.g., eye contact, attentive, supportive) in small and large group settings.
-
Students will understand that dominating the conversation if not an effective way to communicate by
watching how the yarn travels.
Students will understand the importance that everyone shares as we reflect and create sharing guidelines.
-
Rationale: From past discussions in class, I have noticed that the amount of sharing in discussion is not equal.
There are
Materials & supplies needed:
-
Frindle Folders
Spool of yarn
Note cards
Introduction to the lesson: (7- 10 minutes)
“Last night, I asked you talk to your family about made up words you
used when you were little. So for warm up, take five minutes to write
about the word you learned about. What did that word mean, did other
people use it?”
Academic, Social and Linguistic
Support during each event
“Do not share your word yet, just write about it.”
Students take five minutes to reflect on their made up word in their
folder.
I want them to have a time frame so
they can balance their time.
“Thank you, so today we are going to play with these words. I am going
to give each of you a note card. On one side of the note card, write your
word in big letters.”
Wait for them to do this.
Remind them of what they are
doing.
“Great, now on the back, write what the word means.”
“When you are ready, put your pencil on your desk and look up.”
“We have been building the skills that are needed to have a successful
discussion. Today, we are going to put these skills into action.”
“Let’s all pull our chairs into a circle, quietly please, and wait for the
prompt.”
I write my word to model, display it
to the class.
I write the meaning on the back of
my note card.
OUTLINE of key events during the lesson: (15 – 20 minutes)
“Thank you for moving quietly and waiting. Today our discussion will
be about our made up words. We will share where they came from,
what they mean, and what they mean to us. Remember what you
wrote in your journal this morning if you are not sure what to say.”
Tell them how they should do the
task.
Wait for my words to sink in.
“As we share, we are going to pass around this spool of yarn. The yarn
travels to whoever is talking. For example, I have the yarn now
because I am talking. Whoever talks after me, will get the spool of
yarn. Now here is the catch, I will still hold on to a piece of the yarn.
Does this make sense?”
Giving them time to think.
I do an example if they respond with confusion.
“Alright, thinking hats on. Reflect back on what you wrote in your
journal and your note card if you have a problem thinking of what to
say.”
“I will start, my word was ______. My parents said that I used this
word when I was mad.”
I pass the yarn and give students the opportunity to share their word.
Giving them the time to think and
make sure this makes sense.
Model in case things are unclear.
“Alright, great, so how successful do you think our words would be if
we started using them now?”
I pass the yarn again and watch the discussion.
I chime in if there is a dull in the conversation or if we are getting off
track.
I give lead questions to help them in
case starting a discussion is
challenging still.
“Great job! Alright before you share, take a look at the path the yarn
took. Do you have more yarn then everyone else? Do you have less than
everyone else?
Closing summary for the lesson: (10 - 15 minutes)
“Now that you had time to think, let’s talk about what happened.”
“Did anyone have more string than others? Did anyone have less than
everyone else?”
Want students to reflect and think
before responding.
I let students share and respond.
“Think about the look like, sound like sheet. Does only one person talk in
a good discussion?”
Wait for ideas and sharing. I hope that they have insight and a lot to
share based on the way the yarn traveled.
“Why do you think we did this?”
Wait for ideas.
Promoting ideas and discussion.
“I think you guys did a really good job of participating and discussing
today. As we build our skills, it is important that we remember how
important it is that everyone talks in a discussion.”
Want them to feel confident in what
they did.
If time, I will start reading chapter 8.
Transition to next learning activity
“Remember to read chapter 9 (or 8 depending on time) for homework.
You should also fill out your Frindle Folder as you read along.”
Assessment:
Since the goals of this lesson are discussion based, I will be evaluating
their performance in the yarn discussion and the reflection discussion.
Remind them of what is coming
ahead.
Academic, Social, and Linguistic
Support during assessment
This will look different for everyone
and it will be reflected in the way I
take notes. For example, Logan, who
Are they involved? (Do they look at the speaker, do they follow
is Autistic, only has to share once in
the conversation, and are their ideas building off others
each discussion.
thoughts?)
Do they contribute effectively? (Are they dominating discussion,
are they not sharing at all, have they at least shared 2 – 3 ideas?)
Are they on task? (Are their ideas on task and relevant to the
discussion?)
I will take notes on three things:
-
Miss. Nelson vs. Mrs. Granger
Date: Day 6, November 9
Objective(s) for today’s lesson:
-
-
R.CM.04.01: connect personal knowledge, experiences, and understanding of the world to themes and
perspectives in text through oral and written responses.
S.DS.04.01: engage in interactive, extended discourse to socially construct meaning in book clubs,
literature circles, partnerships, or other conversation protocols.
W.PR.04.02 - Apply a variety of pre-writing strategies for both narrative and informational writing (e.g.,
graphic organizers such as maps, webs, Venn diagrams) in order to generate, sequence, and structure
ideas (e.g., plot, setting, conflicts/resolutions).
Students will make personal connections to the story through reading, writing and discussions when they
make personal and emotional connections to the character, situation and other students.
Students will use graphic organizers such as a KWL, Venn Diagrams and Go Map as well as their
Frindle Folders to make sense of the readings by keeping their thoughts and ideas organized.
Rationale: I want students to understand that making connections to a text helps them understand the text
better. By making text to text connections, students are open to wide range of ideas and possibilities. This will
be one of the first experiences for students to really develop the idea of making text to text connections so I will
scaffold this during the discussion.
Materials & supplies needed:
-
Miss Nelson is Missing by James Marshall\
Frindle Folders
Introduction to the lesson: (7 – 10 minutes)
“Last night, you all read chapter nine at home. What were some of your
reactions to it?”
Academic, Social and Linguistic
Support during each event
Time for sharing
“One of the characters we have learned a lot about is Mrs. Granger.
What can you tell me about her?”
If they are not sharing enough I will ask leading questions;
-
What do we know about her?
What is her personality like?
“Today, we are going to learn about a new character. I am not going to
tell you much about her but as I read to you, I want you to think about
what she and Mrs. Granger have in common.”
“Make a mental note in your head of the similarities and differences of
the two characters.”
“Before I read, make sure you that you just listen, I should be the only
one talking.”
Help them with leads in case they are
having a hard time getting started.
Building anticipation and excitement
to hear about this new character.
Remind them of expected behavior.
OUTLINE of key events during the lesson (25 - 30 minutes)
I take out the book and read aloud to the group. I make sure that they
see all of the pictures and I take time to read each page.
I make comments that I find interesting as I read to model effective
reading strategies.
“Before you start talking, gather your thoughts. Now let’s have a
discussion focusing on our discussion skills.”
Reminding them what I am looking
for.
“I have three questions on the board to help guide our talk. Let’s start
with number one: What did you think about the book?”
Let students share their ideas, suggest going to the second question if
conversation lulls.
“What similarities did you notice with Miss. Nelson and Mrs.
Granger?”
Wait for discussion and then move on to the last question, What
differences did you notice between the two teachers?”
Focus questions.
“Great discussion. Go ahead and open your Frindle Folders to the Venn
Diagram.”
Wait for students to find the diagram, draw a diagram on the board.
“What is a Venn Diagram?”
Wait for ideas, if none; write similarities in the middle and Mrs.
Granger and Miss. Nelson on the diagram.
“A Venn Diagram helps us compare two things and also find the
similarities between the two. This is a great way to organize
information.”
I am going to model as we talk and
write in our diagram to help students
follow the organizer.
This can be a hint for set up and may
help them see what we are
comparing.
“Let’s start with similarities between Miss. Nelson and Mrs. Granger.
Give me some ideas!”
(ideas: likes to play jokes, helps students)
I write the ideas on the board, helping students come up with ideas.
“You should be writing what I am writing in your folder.”
“So we have some similarities, what about Miss. Nelson. Tell me about
Miss. Nelson, only!”
Helping put organization to how we
fill this out.
(ideas: dresses into a mean teacher, pretty, young)
“Now, Mrs. Granger. Tell me about Mrs. Granger.”
(ideas: older, loves the dictionary, teaches fifth grade)
Closing summary for the lesson: (5 minutes)
“You can see that we are coming up with some great ideas. Using the
Venn Diagram was a way for us to make connections and organize our
thoughts.”
“Today, we used our knowledge of a character and made connections to
a character we didn’t know much about. This is what great readers do,
make connections.”
“Remember these strategies and tools as you continue to read.”
If time, let students start reading the night’s chapter.
Transition to next learning activity:
“Thank you so much for working hard, head back to your seats quietly
and get your DEAR book out.”
Assessment
I will be collecting the Venn Diagrams and checking for completeness.
Academic, Social, and Linguistic
Support during assessment
These will not be graded but I want to make sure that students
participated and did the work. I will also compare students on how their
discussion skills have developed from the first discussion to this current
discussion.
By looking at each student’s first
discussion and comparing it to their
own progress, each student can
progress at their own rate.
Comic Strips
Date: Day 8, November 11
Objective(s) for today’s lesson:
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W.PR.04.02 - Apply a variety of pre-writing strategies for both narrative and informational writing (e.g.,
graphic organizers such as maps, webs, Venn diagrams) in order to generate, sequence, and structure
ideas (e.g., plot, setting, conflicts/resolutions).
S.DS.04.01: engage in interactive, extended discourse to socially construct meaning in book clubs,
literature circles, partnerships, or other conversation protocols.
Students will use context clues, discussion and connections to sort of the key events of the story to create
a sequence of events.
Students will use the comic strip organizer to make sense of their information so it is easier for them to
compile.
Rationale: I want students to understand that there are a lot of interesting things you can do with a book.
Sequencing is also an important idea for students to grasp. We have been doing a lot of work with summaries
and put events in a sequence is somewhat challenging for them. Having students put the main events in order
through a comic strip is a fun way for them to look at sequence, setting, characters and the connections they
make.
Materials & supplies needed:
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Comic strip organizer from Frindle Folder
Frindle Books
Comic strip paper
Introduction to the lesson: ( 7 – 10 minutes)
“Something big happened last night to Nick. I want you to quickly
write your ideas about how you would feel if you were in Nick’s
place.”
Give students time to write
“Everyone have enough time to get some thoughts down?”
Look for responses
“Great, now share with the people are your table your thoughts.
Walk around as students talk at their tables
“So, Nick being on TV is a big event right? I would say so. Today
we are going to talk about events and how the big events help us
Academic, Social and Linguistic
Support during each event
Want students to have the time to think
before they share
tell the story.”
“Who can tell me what sequence is?”
Write the word and ideas on the board
Keeping this on the board helps them
reference later if they are stuck
“So, a sequence is something like the order everything goes in. It
helps us make sense of what happened when.”
OUTLINE of key events during the lesson: (20 – 30 minutes)
“To help us make a sequence out of the main events, we are going to
create a comic strip!”
Let them know where we are going with
the project
I pass out the comic strip organizer
“Every great writer drafts and gathers their ideas before they get too
far, so that is what we are going to do first.”
“let’s brainstorm some of the major events.”
I write the main events they brainstorm on the board
Model how to think of the events, show
them how to break down the list
Remind them of what I am looking for
“Great ideas. We have a lot of events, now we have to make our list a
bit smaller. Our comic strip will only have six events.”
I read aloud the events and we decide on the importance
The goal is to have around 10 main events
“Now that we have some of the main events, I want you to decide on
the six you think are most important and write them in your folder.
Remember the book isn’t over yet so we do not know everything.”
Model for the students so they know
how to do the other strips on their own
Wait for students to write
“Since we only have a few chapters left, we are going to get started
on comic strip one and two.”
Give them the structure to do the next
five strips
“To help you understand what I am looking for I am going to do strip
one with you.”
Ask students what they think the first event should be in our sequence
Model what to do after they pick the first event:
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Write the event
Describe the event in a few words
Sketch a picture
Ask for questions and have students start strip two
“You have twenty minutes to work on this and ask me questions. Get
Time frame for their work
creative!”
Walk around commenting on work
“Right now, we are only drafting!”
Closing summary for the lesson: (5 – 7 minutes)
Let them know what I expect out of
them time wise
“Great job today! The due date for the comic strip is in your folder
but to remind you, it is due November 15. We will have time each day
to work on this in class.”
If time, let students read chapter 13.
Transition to next learning activity
“Please head back to your seats quietly and get out your science
folder.”
Assessment:
Academic, Social, and Linguistic
Support during assessment
The next day, I will give students the rubric so they can monitor
their work. The rubric lays out what should be done and the amount
of work I expect to see.
“Neat and organized” is different for
each student. I know that his is
Rubric:
something that will have to evaluate on
each students terms
- Each strip highlights a major event in the sequence
- Each picture is supported with text
- Neat and organized
- Completed on time