Directed Reading Activity (DRA) p.1
EDCI 461
DRA Instructional Lesson Plan Form
Your Name
Alexis Cutler
Grade
First Grade
Title of
Lesson
“I Need My
Monster”
Reading Level(s) of Students in
Group and How Determined
Duration of Lesson (minutes)
DRA Group Size
7 Students
Genre of Text and Text Level (Fountas &
Pinnell Leveling System)
30 minutes
Circle: On, Above, or Below Grade
Level
Genre: Fiction/ Supernatural
Text Level: Level F
Ability to read on own determines
reading groups and levels.
I. Purpose and Rationale of the Lesson
What will the students learn or continue to practice?
Students will continue to practice their comprehension skills by comparing and contrasting and sequencing various
ideas presented in the text.
How does this lesson fit within broader curricular goals for that grade?
There are multiple 1st grade common core state standards that this lesson supports. Particularly, the standards
suggest that 1st grade students should be able to identify elements of a story, retell story events in in a logical
sequence, and identify likenesses and differences between characters in a story, which are all ideas that this lesson
encompasses.
Why is this lesson meaningful, necessary, and appropriate?
Being able to sequence the events of a story after reading is necessary when engaging in literacy because it allows
readers to be able to retell the story and determine why events may have occurred. Comparing and contrasting is
meaningful as it put the story into context and allows readers to decide which character they relate most to in a story.
Recognizing and using these skills are valuable in all courses of study, not just literacy.
What will the students write, say, and/or do that will serve as evidence of learning?
Students will verbally answer questions and take part in a group discussion summarizing the events and elements of
the story. Students will collaboratively come up with a timeline showing when each monster emerged and how that
impacted the overall story.
How will you document that?
While students have a group discussion summarizing the events and elements of the story, I will actively listen and
engage in deeper thinking questioning to ensure student’s understanding. As the group creates a sequence of events
for the story, I will ask for justifications of their decisions to reaffirm their understanding of the story.
Common Core Standards Citation
CCSS.RL3: Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
CCSS.RL2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message
or lesson.
CCSS.RL9: Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.
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Lesson Objective (The students will…in order to…)
The students will identify key story elements and the sequence of events within that story in
order to compare and contrast the characters to have an overall better understanding of how they
affected the main idea in the story.
Plan for Formative Assessment and Documentation
Document student’s responses to oral questioning and justifications of their sequencing of events for the
story.
II. Instructional Procedures for the DRA Lesson – What instructional strategies and sequences
will I use to ensure that every child is a successful learner?
Instructional Materials (complete bibliographic citation), Handouts (e.g., graphic organizers), and
Technologies (e.g., power points, websites)
7 copies of “I Need My Monster” by Amanda Noll
A large piece of paper for a timeline
Markers
Pencils
A magnet or clip
A dry erase board or chalk board and erasers for either
Management Considerations (Procedures, Transitions, Materials, Behavior, Rest of Class)
Students will understand how reading group’s work based on previous experiences with them.
Students should come to the reading group with a writing utensil.
Ensure only one student talks at a time and that everyone has a chance to speak.
Insure only inside voices are used and notify students when they are getting too loud.
Instruct each student to at least contribute one thing to the group created timeline.
Other students will be in other reading groups lead on their own.
Instructional
Sequence
Before Reading
Before-reading
activities introduce
students to the text
through brief activities
that motivate and
prepare students to
read and that activate
prior knowledge (e.g.
picture walk, word
framing, making
predictions, discussion
of genre and topic).
Approximate
Time
Procedures and Scripting
10 minutes
Have students think back to the previous book we read as a class and how
we wrote down all of the elements of the story along with everything that
happened and then ordered them into the order in which they occurred.
How did we recall and justify the order of events? Did we have to check
back in the story?
Possible answer: “Yes, we had to check back in the story to confirm when
events took place after we made our statements. Our statements
sometimes changed after looking back.”
Specific vocabulary is
listed in the lesson
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Before we get started, lets take a few minutes to independently look
through the book. Be sure to examine all of the pictures and bold words.
What do we think the story is going to be about? Why do we think that?
plan. Vocabulary is
introduced and steps
are taken to support
recognition and
conceptual
understanding of
challenging words in
the text.
Possible Answer: “A monster under a little boys bed because all the
pictures show a monster and the little boy is in bed.”
To have a better understanding of the vocabulary in our story, we are going
to play a quick game of “Concentration.” The guidelines our as follows:
Students shuffle the index cards and place them face down on the floor.
The first player will turn over two cards. If they select the term and
definition that matches, they continue their turn. If the cards do not match,
the next player takes their turn. This helps the students to physically see
the vocabulary word alongside its definition upon correct matching.
An active purpose for
reading is set that is
aligned with the genre,
standard, and lesson
objective.
The vocabulary words and matching definitions would be as follows:
1. Scrambling: to climb or move quickly using one's hands and feet, as
down a rough incline.
2. Rasped: to scrape or abrade with a rough instrument.
3. Menacing: something that threatens to cause evil, harm, injury, etc.;
4. Creaking: to make a sharp, harsh, grating, or squeaking sound.
5. Quivered: to shake with a slight but rapid motion; vibrate tremulously;
tremble.
The teacher will tell the students that these words will appear again during
their reading and they will now have a better understanding of them and to
be on the look out for them.
Then the teacher will say, today as we read, we need to pay attention to
specific characteristics for each monster mentioned. We also need to
remember the order of when each monster appears underneath the little
boys bed for an activity that we are going to do.
During Reading
During-reading
activities include
students in the actual
reading of the
selection. How are
students reading?
Silent? Choral?
Whisper? (NOT
round robin)
The reading selection
is divided into
segments identified
by page #, followed
by specific
comprehension
questions to check
comprehension after
each segment.
Are you revisiting your
objective? Are you
revisiting your active
10 minutes
Let’s start by reading through the beginning of the book independently.
Please stop after the monster “Ralph” appears under the little boys bed
(Page 6). When you’re finished, give a thumbs up. Look to see when all
students have given a thumbs up.
The teacher will instruct the students to consider the following as they read:
Where did Gabe go? Why does the little boy like having a monster under
his bed? What are some characteristics of the monsters this far? Why
could a monster be useful under my own bed?
As soon as everyone has a thumbs up, the teacher will revisit the
questions she posed them to try and find the answer to.
Possible answer could be: “Gabe went on a fishing trip. He needed a
monster to keep him in bed. The monsters so far aren’t what the little boy
wants and aren’t like Gabe. I would like to have a monster under my own
bed to scare away all the mice.”
Next, the teacher will have each monster’s name written on the board
(Gabe, Herbert, Ralph, Cynthia, and Mack). The monsters will be ordered
on the board in accordance to their immergence in the story. As a group,
they will brainstorm descriptive words, found in the text, for each monster
they read about thus far, which will be up until “Ralph”. They will check
back in the text to confirm this order and these descriptive words particular
to each monster. During this time, the teacher will assess how well the
students are comparing and contrasting between each monster by noticing
if they pick on similarities and differences between them.
Possible answers: “Excellent claws, slobbering, slimy tail, razor sharp, well-
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groomed, etc.”
purpose and/or
identified strategy for
reading?
The students will then continue to read page 7 to the end of the story
independently. They will give a thumbs up when they are finished. During
both independent readings, the teacher will pay close attention to whether
it appears any student is struggling or not.
The teacher’s active
role in guiding
students through the
reading selection is
clearly evident. You
have written the script
of everything you will
say.
Different types of
questions are posed to
assess different aspects
of comprehension. Be
sure to include higher
order thinking
questions (inferential
and beyond the text
ones)
7 minutes
After Reading
After-reading
activities include
questions to check
students’ overall
reading
comprehension and
are appropriate for the
lesson’s objective.
After reading the story, the teacher will now introduce the “Story Timeline”
they will create to organize the events of the story. The teacher will explain
it as follows:
“Now, we will work as a group to create a timeline of all the events that
took place in the story. Each student must put at least one event on the
timeline. We will use our descriptive words we brainstormed to help
remember when each monster came under the little boys bed. To assure
our order is correct, we will check back in the text. This needs to be done
neatly and with markers so we can hang it on the wall.”
As the students are creating the timeline, the teacher will overlook and
assess their understanding of the order of events of the story. The teacher
will ensure every student contributes something. The teacher will document
each students understanding.
When the teacher notices the students are done, she will bring them all
back together for a closing discussion. The teacher will ask a student to
volunteer and read the timeline they created out loud. The teacher will then
ask the students if they feel their timeline is correctly aligned with the story.
A possible answer could be, “Yes, because I checked back in the story.”
Then the teacher will praise the timeline work and let the children know it
will be hung up on the classroom wall.
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2 minutes
Closure
The teacher provides
closure for the lesson
with questions and a
statement that
emphasizes what was
accomplished and the
new learning that took
place.
Last, the teacher will ask a few other questions to the students to gain an
overall understanding. The questions would be as follows: “Do you think
that the little boy’s reason for having a monster under his bed is
reasonable? If you could be any monster in the book, which one would you
be and why? What are the main differences between Gabe and all of the
other monsters?
Possible answers: “His reason is reasonable because it helps him to sleep
better at night and feel more safe. I would be Cynthia because she is the
only female monster. Gabe was who the little boy was most comfortable
with because he was always there and I think that’s why the little boy didn’t
like the other monsters as much. He wasn’t used to them.”
The teacher will then say, “Since we paid close attention to all of the
monsters in the story, we were able to easily create a sequence of events.
Checking back in the story helped assure accuracy. It’s important to
constantly check and pay attention to detail as we read so we always know
how each character worked to affect the whole story.”
The teacher will then direct the students back to their desks.
Implementation
of Assessment
Actions and
Documentation
Assessment is verbally indicated throughout lesson plan. Most assessment
would be assessing each student’s answer to the questions, participation in
the vocabulary game, the characterization chart, and participation in the
group timeline. The teacher will also assess the accuracy of the timeline.
The teacher will document student’s responses to questions as she goes
along.
Assessment was
ongoing throughout the
lesson, with activities
that are clearly
explicated and directly
related to the lesson
objective and
activities.
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