Masters Seminar: Inquiry in Teaching and Learning in Childhood Education
Inquiry into Student Learning Project
Teacher Candidate: Marlena Oppedisano
Lesson Title: Action Verbs
Grade/Subject: Grade 5/English Language Arts
Essential Question: How can we identify action verbs in sentences and reading passages?
Inquiry Question: How does using an exit ticket assess fifth grade students’ ability to identify
action verbs?
Common Core State Standards:
Reading Standards: Foundational Skills (K-5)
5.4 - Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
a. Read grade-level text with purpose and
understanding.
b.Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as
necessary.
Writing Standards K-5
5.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Language Standards K-5
5.1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking.
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Lesson Objectives:
Students will be able to define the term action verb.
Students will be able to engage in a station activity and identify action verbs in reading passages
taken from the book Holes by Louis Sachar.
Students will be able to identify action verbs in a short paragraph provided for them to read
during the closure of the lesson.
Students will be able to create a sentence of their own using at least one action verb.
Materials:
PowerPoint Slides on Action Verbs (Motivation)
5 large pieces of chart pages (Procedure)
1 photocopy of pages 60-61, 80-81, 90-91, 180-181, and 194-195 from the book Holes by Louis
Sachar (Procedure)
5 different colored markers (Procedure)
Action Verbs/Station Activity Worksheet (Motivation/Procedure)
Exit Ticket (Closure)
SMART Board (Motivation)
Pencil (Entire Lesson)
Masters Seminar: Inquiry in Teaching and Learning in Childhood Education
Inquiry into Student Learning Project
Lesson Pre-Assessment:
The pre-assessment of this lesson will be given one day prior to the lesson being taught. This
pre-assessment was designed to assess the students’ current knowledge about action verbs. The
pre-assessment will assess students specifically on their ability to define what an action verb is,
identify an action verb within a sentence, and lastly, write a sentence using an action verb.
Motivation or Hook (10-15 minutes):
For the motivation of this lesson, the teacher and students will have a conversation about action
verbs. Students will respond to the following question and prompt: What is an action verb? Turn
and Talk with the classmates at your group to discuss what an action verb is. The teacher will
then review with the students the definition of an action verb, and the students will take notes on
a worksheet that is provided for them. The teacher will then select students to approach the
SMART Board and underline, using a dry erase marker, the action verb within each sentence
provided.
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Procedure (25 minutes):
The teacher, before beginning the instructional activity, will remind students to work
cooperatively during the next few activities. She will ask that they work responsibly in the
groups that she is going to assign them in. She will then tell that the students are going to engage
in a station activity. She will explain to the students that pages from their mentor text at the
moment, which is Holes, have been photocopied, and each page has been glued to a large piece
of chart paper. The students, when told to do so, will locate one sentence on that specific page
containing an action verb. One student from each group will then write that sentence on the outer
edge of the chart paper, underlining the action verb in the sentence. After this one student has
written this sentence on the chart paper, all of the students in the group will then write this
sentence on their action verbs worksheet. By the end of this activity, the students will have five
sentences (one from each station’s reading passage) on their worksheet.
The teacher will then assign students into five groups of five, and ask students to walk over to
their assigned starting station. When the teacher tells the students that they can begin, the
students will collectively find one sentence with an action verb or action verbs, and write this
sentence on the outer portion of the reading passage, underlining the action verb on the chart
paper, as well as on their worksheet. When the teacher calls time, the students will move to the
next station and repeat the same activity. The students will be given between three and five
minutes at each station.
After students have been to each of the five stations, they will then return to their seats. Students
will be selected to share their sentences with the class, and identify for the class, the action
verb(s) within their sentence.
Closure (10 minutes):
For the closure of the lesson, the students will be given an exit ticket. On this exit ticket will be a
short paragraph that the students will read. The students will then identify four action verbs
within this paragraph. Students will submit their exit tickets when they are finished. The teacher
will assess the exit tickets and provide feedback for students to review. The teacher will also
collect the students’ station activity worksheet to assess.
Formal and Informal Lesson Assessments:
Masters Seminar: Inquiry in Teaching and Learning in Childhood Education
Inquiry into Student Learning Project
Several informal assessments will take place within this lesson. The teacher will circulate the
classroom while students engage in the station activity to monitor student learning and check for
student understanding. In addition, the students will complete an exit ticket that will be collected
and reviewed by the teacher. This will serve as an end-of-lesson assessment, which the teacher
will not grade, but review, and provide feedback upon. The teacher will also collect and review
the students’ Action Verbs/Station Activity worksheet.
How will students reflect upon their learning?
The students will reflect upon their learning by completing an exit ticket. This exit ticket will ask
students to identify four action verbs in a short paragraph, and then write a sentence of their own
using an action verb. This exit ticket will assess if students have gained a solid understanding of
what has been taught during the lesson.
Differentiation:
The students will be given the opportunity to approach the SMART Board and identify action
verbs in the sentences provided. The students will engage in a station activity during this lesson,
in which they are afforded the opportunity to work in assigned groups with their classmates.
Assigning students in pre-determined groups will allow the teacher to purposefully place
students in groups so that there is a balance, in regards to achievement levels and behavior,
among the groups.
Accommodations/Modifications to Requirements in IEPs and 504 Plans:
All students will be provided with explicit instructions throughout the lesson. The teacher will
model for all students how they must engage in a station activity. The teacher will redirect or
refocus students who are losing focus and who are having difficulty remaining on task.
Technology to Support Student Learning:
The classroom SMART Board will be used to display the slides from the PowerPoint that the
teacher will use to introduce action verbs.
Post-Assessment:
This lesson post-assessment was designed to assess the students’ newly learned knowledge about
action verbs. The post-assessment was designed to specifically assess students on their ability to
define what an action verb is, identify an action verb within a sentence, and lastly, write a
sentence using an action verb. This post-assessment is important to my inquiry question, as it
directly relates to the differentiation strategy that was used during this lesson, which assess
students’ ability to identify action verbs. At the end of this lesson, the students will be given an
exit ticket that will assess what they have learned throughout the lesson, and more specifically,
their ability to identify action verbs within a short paragraph. The post-assessment, which is
aligned with the students’ pre-assessment, is an extension of the exit ticket that the students will
complete at the end of this lesson. The post-assessment, just like the exit ticket, will assess how
much the students have learned throughout the lesson.