Name: Katie McCurdy

Cohort: B1

Lesson Plan
Lesson Title: Shared Reading Activity The Empty Pot Grade: 4 Date: November 17th 2015
Subject/Strand: Language Arts Reading Unit: Summarizing Location: Classroom
minutes): 30 minutes

Time:

(length in

Lesson Plan Description

(What are you teaching? How does it fit into the context of the unit? What are the big
ideas/essential/enduring understandings?)

Today we will build off last classs discussion of differentiating between supporting and important
details from the story The Empty Pot. We will quickly recap what the story was about and move
onto the activity. From the sticky notes collected yesterday and a lot of additional sentences I will
have created approximately 5 important details from the story and 5 supporting details. These will
be cut into strips and handed out to each student in random order. Independently the students will
decipher between sentence strips and place them in a t chart. This t chart will have the two
headings important details and supporting details at the top. After they are done they will compare
with an elbow partner and we will take it up together as a class.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Ontario Curricular Overall Expectations

(numbers from documents and details)

Reading 1 - Read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts,
using a range of strategies to construct meaning.
Ontario Curricular Specific Expectations

(numbers from documents and details) selected & listed from the Ont.
Curriculum, refined when necessary, has verbs that are observable & measureable, has realistic number of expectations (1 to 3), have
expectations that match assessment

Demonstrating Understanding - 1.4 - Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important

ideas and citing supporting details
Learning Goals

Discuss with students: What will I be learning today? (clearly identify what students are expected to know
and be able to do, in language that students can readily understand.)

Today I will learn

How to tell the difference between an important detail and a supporting one
How to justify my explanations from placing details where I did

ASSESSMENT and EVALUATION

Success Criteria

Discuss with students: How will I know I have learned what I need to learn? (Clearly identify the criteria
to assess students learning, as well as what evidence of learning students will provide to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and
thinking, in language that students can readily understand).

I can: Use examples from The Empty Pot and place them into either supporting details or important details in
t-chart
I can: Explain to my partner why I chose to put certain details from the story where I did
I can: Make changes to my t-chart if I believe a detail is placed in the wrong spot
Assessment How will I know students have learned what I intended?

Achievement Chart Categories (highlight/circle the ones that apply):

Knowledge and Understanding;
Thinking;
Communication;
Application
Assessment For, As, Of Learning (Circle One) (Describe way(s) you and/or your students will assess.)
Assessment Mode
Written, Oral, Performance
(Write, Say, Do)

Assessment Strategy and Task

for Students- What are the students

Assessment Tool - Instrument used to

assess task and record learning e.g.,

doing to show their learning? e.g. turn and

talk, role play/individual, cooperative, etc.

rubric, checklist, observation sheet, turn/talk, role play

etc.

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Written Students will

complete the t-chart
and discuss results
with their partner.
When they feel they
have put the strips of
details on the right side
then they can glue

Turn and talk after completion of

their charts students will turn to their
partners and see if they came to the
same conclusions. If not, each
student will explain why he or she
put that detail in the specific spot.

I will be circulating the room as the students

explain to their partners the reason they put
details where they did. I will also be
collecting each students completed t chart
to assess their overall understanding of the
differences between supporting and
important details.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR PLANNING

Prior Learning: Prior to this lesson, students will have
*
*
*

Practiced determining important details from stories

Already read the story The Empty Pot and know what happens in it
Been introduced to the idea of summarization

Differentiation: Content, Process, Product, Environment, Assessment/Accommodations,

Modifications
Assistance in completion/creation of t-charts will be given to two students who have language
IEPs.
Learning Skills/Work Habits Highlight/circle ones that are assessed: responsibility, organization, independent work,
collaboration,

Vocabulary

initiative,
self-regulation
(for word wall and/or to develop schema)

The new words from the story read yesterday were discussed. Since we are using the same story
no new words are added.
Resources and Materials /Technology Integration

List ALL items necessary for delivery of the lesson. Include any
attachments of student worksheets used and teacher support material that will support communication of instruction. Include the use of
Information Technology (ICT) in your lesson plan where appropriate.

A piece of paper per student (preferably lined), sentence detail strips (supporting and
important) given to each child, writing tools, and glue stick

Learning Environment (grouping; transitions; physical set up)

Students will be at their desks working independently for the beginning of the activity. After they have placed
all of the detail strips onto their piece of paper they will discuss their answers with an elbow partner.
Cross Curricular Links

Three Part Lesson

Identify what the students are expected to think about or do. Write the lesson description with
enough detail that another teacher could replicate the lesson without a personal discussion.
What Teachers Do:
What Students do:
Minds on: Motivational Hook/engagement /Introduction (5-15 min)
Establish a positive learning environment, connect to prior learning, set the context for learning, pre-determine key questions to guide
lesson.
Time: 10:00 10:10 (Indicate time breakdown of
instructional elements)

Okay cottagers, today we will be doing an

activity that is based on the reading we did
yesterday from The Empty Pot.
Can I have a few volunteers help us to refresh
our memories by briefly explaining what
happened in the story yesterday?
Thank you for summarizing what happened
yesterday in the story for us. The first step of
todays activity involves creating a t-chart on a
piece of lined paper, one side will say
Supporting Details, and the other side will say
Important Details. Once you have done that I
will be passing along strips of details from the
story. Each strip is either an important detail or a
supporting detail. Your job is to place each strip
on the correct side of the t-chart.
*(Depending on how they did with their sticky
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A couple of volunteers give synopsis about the story from

the previous day. Some of the explanations are wordy,
and others were to the point.

Students are actively listening to instructions for

upcoming activity.

note activity from the day before I will decide

whether the details need to be in sequential
order or not)*
After you have placed the strips onto the t-chart
you will discuss your placement of the strips with
your elbow partner. I really like this activity
because it is kind of like solving a puzzle!
Lined paper and strips of detail from the story
are given to each student in the class
One thing I should say before you begin is to not
glue your strips of detail down until you are sure
you have them on the correct side! Your elbow
partner can help you with this. After you have
received your piece of paper and strips you can
begin to solve the puzzle!
Action: During /Working on it (time given for each component, suggested 15-40 min)
Introduce new learning or extend/reinforce prior learning, provide opportunities for practice & application of learning.
Time: 10:10 10:20 (Indicate time breakdown of
instructional elements)

At this point I will be circulating the room

and observing the students create their tchart. I will then observe the placement of
the detail strips. This will help me to
determine again if students understand the
difference between supporting details and
important ones. Hopefully by this point they
are beginning to grasp the difference and
can soon do so independently.

To begin students are quietly and independently

working on the creation of their t-chart. After this
has been done they begin to roughly place the
strips of detail onto the t-chart.

After five or so minutes students begin to discuss

answers with elbow partners and make any changes
they believe are necessary. The comparison
between the two students will take some time.
Particularly for the weaker students, when many of
their details do not match up.
After they have made their final changes with their
partners the students will glue down their answers

Consolidation & Connection (Reflect and Connect) (5-15 min.)

Help students demonstrate what they have learned, provide opportunities for consolidation and reflection.
Time: 10:20-10:30 (Indicate time breakdown of instructional
elements)

Okay cottagers, how did everyone do with

completing their puzzles?
Thats okay if it was tricky, because puzzles
usually are. And they take practice to get
better at. For the most part did you and your
partner have the same t-charts or different
ones?
If you came across a different answer from
your partner how did you reason out whose
was correct?
I really like the strategy you used in
reasoning out your answers. I will now show
you the correct separation of the details on
the t-chart.
Displays t-chart with details in order and on
the correct sides.
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Some answer it was fun others found it difficult.

Once again answers are mixed, some partners were
the same while others were different.
Students respond by saying we let each other
explain why we put the detail where we did, and
whoevers explanation made more sense we kept it
there.
Some students put there hands up and ask why
some details were placed where they are.

Students respond with yes

I will then provide explanations as to why

the details were placed where they were.
Okay class, did we find this activity fun and
useful for helping us determine the
difference between supporting and
important details?
I am glad you liked it, we will be working
again with important details with the book
we will read tomorrow. The last thing I would
like you to do is put your name on the top of
your t-chart sheet and hand it to me please.

Students gather sheets and hand them to the

teacher.

Extension Activities/Next Steps (where will this lesson lead to next)

This activity leads nicely into the next story we will be reading aloud to once again work on being
able to pick out the important details from the story, but this time more independently.
Personal Reflection (what went well, what would I change, what will I have to consider in my next lesson for this subject/topic)
The Lesson:
The Teacher:

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