Wayne State University-College of Education

Lesson Plan Format

Teacher: Lindsay Sherwin
School:NA

Date: 2/16/15

Setting: WSU Classroom

District:NA

Grade Level:5

Topic/Unit: Conjunctions

Lesson Title: Conjunction Functions

Core Subject: Language Arts/ Grammar Integration: Music

I.

Content
Students will be able to determine what a conjunction is and its appropriate usage in both written
and verbal language.
Concepts:
I can identify conjunctions.
I can use conjunctions in sentences properly.
Enduring Understandings/ Essential Questions
What is a conjunction?
How are conjunctions used in written and verbal language?
How are conjunctions used in sentences?
II.

Benchmarks
Visual Arts GLCEs
ART.M.I.5.7 Perform rhythmic and melodic patterns when presented aurally.
GLCEs from Cores
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.1.A
Explain the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their
function in particular sentences.

III.

Learning Resources and Materials

Teacher materials: Index cards for each student, YouTube video School House Rock
Conjunction Function, lyrics of conjunction function
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPoBE-E8VOc
Student materials: pencil, crayons

IV.

Development of Lesson
Pre-Teaching activities-Classroom modification:
To prepare for the lesson, open up the YouTube Video and hand out a lyrics sheet to each
student.
Introduction Anticipatory Set

Teacher will prompt student discussion by saying, What words do we use to connect two
different thoughts or parts of your sentence together? Please turn and talk to an elbow
buddy. Teacher will allow for student discussion and bring back class attention by
counting down by five.
Teacher will call on a few students to share their thoughts about what words can connect
two thoughts or ideas together in a sentence. Teacher will say, Remember when we
discussed different parts of speech like pronouns, prepositions, and helping verbs?
Today we are going to learn about conjunctions.
Conjunctions are words that link different thoughts or ideas in a sentence together.
Some of the most common conjunctions are: and, but, and or.
Now we are going to learn a song about conjunctions and then create some of our own
sentences with conjunctions in them with a partner.

Methods/Procedures -Modeling /demonstrating, checking for understanding, guided

practice

1.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Teacher will pass out the lyrics sheets to students for School House Rock Conjunction
Function. Students will learn the verses.
Teacher will facilitate learning of conjunctions by teaching students the Conjunction
chorus line by line. The teacher will sing/ read the verse that lists the functions of
conjunctions
"And":
That's an additive, like "this and that".
"But":
That's sort of the opposite,
"Not this *but* that".
And then there's "or":
O-R, when you have a choice like
"This or that".
"And", "but", and "or",
Get you pretty far.
The teacher will read or sing the first line of this particular verse. Students
will repeat the verse line by line after the teacher reads/ sings the line.
After each line has been read line by line the students and teacher will sing
this verse together.
The teacher will then play the Conjunction Function video on YouTube
Students and teacher will sing along to the video using their lyrics sheet.
After the video, teacher will prompt students, What is a conjunction? Please turn and
talk to an elbow buddy. Be ready to share what your elbow buddy said.
Teacher will allow students to talk for about one minute and will draw back student
attention by counting back from five. Teacher will ask students to share what they have
learned about conjunctions.

As an assessment, students will work to highlight all the conjunctions in the lyrics sheet.
Students will then write a sentence with a conjunction they found on their lyric sheet on
an index card and will illustrate their sentences on the index cards.
List all Sequential activates and steps (read aloud and practice this before you teach
lesson)
Student Work Period- Independent Practice
o Students will work independently to identify conjunctions in the lyric sheets in
order to identify conjunctions in written language.
o Students are working to create their own conjunction sentences on index cards
which will show that students are able to follow the conventions of written
language and use conjunctions properly.
o The students will also illustrate their sentences in order to hang up in the
classroom as an anchor chart for conjunction usage.
o The teacher will facilitate learning by monitoring classroom progress by checking
in on student work. The teacher will pull groups of students who struggle with
writing and allow them to work in pairs to accomplish the same goal.
o The teacher will check conjunction choices prior to students writing their
sentences to check for understanding.
o The cards wills serve as a formative assessment

Accommodations/Adaptations
Students can work together to help one another find all the conjunctions and discuss the
meaning
Students will work independently to create their own sentences,
For students who struggle with writing or ELL students, the teacher will allow them to
work in pairs to accomplish the same goals or objectives
For lower level students, the teacher will write what the student dictates on the index card
for them
For higher level students, students will be asked to write a card for and, but, and or
Assessment/Evaluation
The student will learn the usage of conjunctions as evidenced by their creation of a sentence using
conjunctions.
The students will be graded on their proper usage of conjunctions and asked to redo any
mistakes. The teacher will check for understanding using these cards and review the
lesson if necessary.
V.

Closure
The teacher will warn students of the closure of the lesson with a two minute timer set.
Once the time goes off, students will be asked to stop working.

Students will then share their sentences with one another by the teacher pulling random names
from popsicle sticks with student names.
The teacher will then ask students to discuss with their tables one thing they learned today and
then ask each table to share their thoughts. The teacher will then review that conjunctions are the
words that combine two thoughts or ideas in sentences.
It is time to move on to our next lesson. Please put all art supplies away and bring your cards to
the front table so we can hang them up in our room to remember what conjunctions are.
VI.

Teacher Reflection
Complete this after your presentation. This is an informal reflection on your lesson and
presentation from your perspective. This is meant to help you gain insight into your practice.
There is no formal order to this response, but please reflect upon the following:
In terms of What went well?

Were (GLCEs) supported and reflected in student work?

What can you share about student participation and learning?
Identify what went well with the lesson-Why?

What needs modifying?

Identify something(s) that you will do differently when you teach this lesson again and
explain your reasoning. What did you learn about yourself as a teacher?
How will this impact your future practice?
What would I do next?
Finish this reflection with connection to future learning.
Is there need for further development to achieve lessons objectives? If so, what are your
insights to the next logical steps?
If the lesson has fulfilled its purpose, what learning will follow? (Next lesson? Or new
exploration on a theme that this lesson identified...?)
(These two previous paragraphs should address these benchmarks in COE #10-Effective,
Reflective, Practitioner*)
Description reflects extensive analysis, by examining multiple aspects classroom/home
connections, teacher (student learning, logical next steps, effective, etc).
Description reflects previous or future communication with parents/guardians (homework,
emails, newsletters, website, phone calls, blogs, etc).
Insights linked to logical next steps.
http://coe.wayne.edu/accreditation/lesson_rub12-1.pdf
VII. Appendix*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPoBE-E8VOc
http://www.lyricsmania.com/conjunction_junction_lyrics_schoolhouse_rock.html

Reflections
The GLCEs were supported throughout the lesson. The music was reflected while students
participated and sang the School House Rock song. The song had different melodic lines that students
were able to follow along with as the song played aurally. The ELA CCSS was represented throughout
the lesson in a variety of different ways. Students were introduced to the concept during the song. Next
students explored the concept by highlighting the conjunctions in the song to show that they are used in
nearly all sentences we speak. The assessment was the student work that showed them creating their
own sentences on the index cards.
Students were actively participating in the lesson. Highlighting the conjunctions makes all
students explore the concept. Students also explored the concept in the song. While some students did
not sing all were actively listening since it is such a catchy song. This relates to the COE benchmark one
which explains learner development. I provided students with a variety of different ways to learn the
same concept. Students of all learning types were well represented in this lesson.
I think using the song as explanation went really well. The song was able to explain the concept
without a direct teacher lecture. Students learned the definition. Students also saw conjunctions in work.
The song also related the concept to a junction which is a great visual aid for students. The index cards
were a great way to check for understanding after the song. This relates to COE benchmark 6:
assessment. This standards states that teacher find multiple ways to check for understanding. This was a
hands on assessment that included all students.
There were some things that I would modify if I were to teach this lesson another time. It is a fast
paced song so I would be sure to teacher students line by line which would take some time which we did
not have. I would also allow students to sing it a second time and include instruments to play on the
conjunctions.
This will impact my future practice in a variety of different ways. By being a reflective
practitioner, I am able to improve each lesson. This ensures that students are meeting the objectives
stated above in the lesson more effectively.
I think the objective were met in this lesson. I also think that students need repetition. Students
cannot become fluent in a concept in only one lesson. They need a lot of practice. I would, however,
keep using the song in the next few lessons as a review.
The lesson served its purpose to teach about conjunctions. Students will need future work with
conjunctions. Another lesson idea would be to have students use instruments and play them when
reading a poem aloud every time they hear a conjunction. After multiple exposures in addition to this
lesson, students will master the concept.