Sara Eilers

EDR 627
Strat Chat Lesson #1

Section One:
Strategy: Guided Listening (Listening Guide)
Source: In-class materials (powerpoint), Learning Unit #1
Purpose: Aides in comprehension and ability to recall facts; A listening
guide defines the focus of students listening by highlighting exactly what
students are listening for and what they should take notes on.

Section Two:
Students: 2
nd
Grade- whole class group or small group































Section Three:
Text and Materials: Wangaris Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winters

Wangaris Trees of Peace
What I can learn about Wangari from this book














What steps does Wangari take to bring the trees back to Kenya?






























Section Four:
Introduction/Activating Prior Knowledge:
I will introduce the text to students by explaining that its a true story about
a woman, Wangari, from Kenya, Africa (show students on Google Earth).
Next, I will ask students to name what is beautiful about nature (flowers,
trees, birds, animals, etc.). I will then explain that in this book Wangari
leaves her country for schooling, but when she returns the beautiful nature
has been demolished. Discuss why people would want to cut down the
trees that sustain so much of nature. I anticipate students sharing: to build
more buildings, for firewood or building materials, for paper from the trees.

Modeling:

I DO:
I will then explain to students that I will be reading aloud Wangaris Trees
of Peace while they follow along and record on their listening guide. I will
show them the listening guide and explain that it will help them focus their
listening. Their listening will zoom in on: What steps does Wangari take to
bring the trees back to Kenya? and What I can learn about Wangari
from this book. I will model the use of the listening guide by reading the
first three pages of the book. I will focus on how the first three pages
describe Wangari working hard (point out the specific evidence of this in
the text). I will model for students how to infer a character trait by the
books description of the characters actions. I will explain to students that
I am inferring from the first three pages that Wangari is a hard worker
because she (cite evidence). I will record this under What I can learn
about Wangari from this book.

WE DO:
I will hand out the listening guide to students and emphasize that they can
record their listening at any point during the read aloud. I will continue
reading through the fourth page and then pause. I will point out that
Wangari wins a scholarship to study in America. I will explain to students
what a scholarship is and then ask them, What kind of student can we
infer Wangari is if she wins a scholarship? I anticipate students will say
smart, hard working, enjoys school. Everyone will record their thinking
under What I can learn about Wangari from this book.

YOU DO TOGETHER:
I will continue reading until reaching page 8 where Wangari sees the
barren land of Kenya and begins replacing some of the lost trees with
seedlings. I will ask students to turn and talk to a partner about listening
guide question #1: What steps does Wangari take to bring the trees back
to Kenya? Students will focus their discussion on her very first step and
thoughts. I will be circulating to help facilitate discussion. Students will
record their thinking. We will reconvene as a group and a few students will
share their thinking they recorded. I will encourage them to cite evidence
by asking, How do you know that?

YOU DO ALONE:
I will continue reading the book as students independently pause to
record their thinking on the listening guide. At times I may stop to allow
students to write if needed. At the end of the read aloud I will provide
time for students to review what they have recorded and add to their
thinking.

Lesson Wrap-up:
Students will share with a partner what they recorded for the two parts of
the listening guide. As a whole group, a few students will share what they
recorded. Students can add to their ideas, expand upon them verbally or
in written form, and change any thinking that might be a misconception.

Section Five:
Assessment: I will use the listening guide as a formative assessment to
assess students comprehension. I will specifically be looking for exact
steps Wangari took to restore the trees in Kenya and character traits of
Wangari.

Section Six:
I feel like this strategy was highly effective with my two 2
nd
graders. The
students were constantly engaged throughout the lesson and actively
listening as their task did not allow them to drop focus. When I compare
their active engagement to just a typical read aloud I notice a significant
difference in the students listening. The listening guide helped the
students narrow their focus so the non-fiction text didnt seem too
overwhelming with information. After modeling and guided practice,
students were able to complete the listening guide independently.

Section Seven:
Elizabeth Stocker-
I really liked how you introduced the book using google maps. Awesome
modeling with your students! I also liked how you activated prior
knowledge before reading.
Maybe try using an article with this strategy or just a few pages?
Possibly have students answer and think about different parts of the story
that are in the beginning, middle, and end?
Would you try this story with another strategy?

Lorrie Hughes-
I thought that this was a great strategy! I would love to try this with my own
students! I liked the questions that you used for your listening guide. Asking
them to list the steps Wangari took would cause the students to continue
looking for steps throughout the text, rather than finding an answer and
not having anything else to listen for anything else. I thought your
introduction to the text was great! Using Google maps to show students
the location, and then talking about nature was a great way to introduce
the topic. I liked that you stopped in the middle of the text to talk about
the questions let the students discuss the answers that they have come up
with. This is a great way to break up the book and keep the students
engaged, rather than waiting until the very end.

As an accommodation for students that struggle/special education
students, students could be put into pairs to work together to record the
steps. This would allow the special education students to get extra help
from their classmates, and would help them to become more confident in
their work.

I would like to try this strategy using magazine/newspaper articles
Would you consider asking the students to look for more questions
throughout the reading? Did you think 2 was enough?


Section Eight:
In the future I would do this strategy in a small group where each student
or partner pair could have a copy of the book. It was difficult at times for
the students to record while I kept reading, therefore I often stopped at
multiple times. This would leave one of the students waiting and the other
feeling pressured to write faster. If each student had a copy of the book
then they would refer back to a page or students could read a portion of
the book independently.
As the students became more proficient with this strategy I would add
more questions to the listening guide. This book was not overwhelming or
loaded with facts since it was more a story rather than an all-about type
book. I feel like the listening guide would work well with all-about books
where students are recording facts that pertain to the questions. Typically
all-about books are loaded with facts so the listening guide would narrow
down what students are listening for and recording.