Third Grade Information Writing Lesson Plan Tony Combs

FRIT 7136 Dr. Stephanie Jones Spring 2010 Pathfinder URL http:sites.google.com/site/bhpathfinder

Third Grade Information Writing Lesson Plan Grade: Third Grade Language Arts Teacher: LaTrease Pinkney Content Topic: Famous African Americans STANDARDS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY LEARNER GOALS Standard 1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. Skills Indicator(s): 1.1.5, 1.1.6, 1.1.7, & 1.1.8 1.1.5-Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context. 1.1.6-read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. 1.1.7-Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias. 1.1.8-Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry. 3.1.6-Use information and technology ethically and responsibly. Benchmark-1.1.5: Recognize and use facts that answer specific questions Interpret information represented in pictures, illustrations, and simple charts Benchmark-1.1.6: Use simple note-taking strategies as demonstrated by SLMS. Write, draw or verbalize the main idea and supporting details. Benchmark-1.1.7: Summarize or retell key points. Benchmark-1.1.8: Recognize the purpose of the online catalog to locate materials. Use online encyclopedias and magazine databases with guidance.

Benchmark-3.1.6 Rephrase rather than copy whole sentences. Credit sources by citing author and title. Distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable computer use. Follow school guidelines related to the acceptable use of technology. Use technology in appropriate ways outside the school. Dispositions Indicator(s): 1.2.1, 1.2.2, & 1.2.3 1.2.1-Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts. 1.2.2-Demonstrate confidence and self-direction by making independent choices in the selection of resources and information. 1.2.3-Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats. Responsibilities Indicator(s): 1.3.1, 1.3.2, & 1.3.3 1.3.1-Respect copyright/intellectual property right of creators and producers. 1.3.2-Seek divergent perspectives during information gathering and assessment. 1.3.3-Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information. Self-Assessment Strategies: What interests me about this idea or topic? Why am I doing this research? How will I find out about this idea or topic? What is my plan for research? What are all the sources that might be used? How well did my inquiry process go?

CONNECTION TO LOCAL OR STATE STANDARDS

ELA3W1 The student demonstrates competency in the writing process. The student a. Captures a readers interest by setting a purpose and developing a point of view. b. Begins to select a focus and an organizational pattern based on purpose, genre, expectations, audience, and length. c. Writes text of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story. d. Uses organizational patterns for conveying information (e.g., chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, questions and answers). e. Begins to use appropriate structures to ensure coherence (e.g., transition words and phrases, bullets, subheadings, numbering). f. Begins to use specific sensory details (e.g., strong verbs, adjectives) to enhance descriptive effect. j. Uses a variety of resources to research and share information on a topic. k. Writes a response to literature that demonstrates understanding of the text, formulates an opinion, and supports a judgment. m. Pre-writes to generate ideas, develops a rough draft, rereads to revise, and edits to correct.
ELA3W2 The student writes in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. a. Captures a readers interest by setting a purpose and developing a point of view. b. Sustains a focused topic. c. Includes the appropriate purpose, expectations, and length for the audience and the genre. d. Includes relevant examples, facts, anecdotes, and details. e. Uses organizational structures for conveying information (chronological order, cause and effect, similarities and differences, questions and answers). f. Uses a variety of resources (encyclopedia, Internet, books) to research and share information on a topic. g. Provides a sense of closure. h. May include prewriting. i. May include a draft that is revised and edited.

ELA3C1 The student demonstrates understanding and control of the rules of the English language, realizing that usage involves the appropriate application of conventions and grammar in both written and spoken formats. The student a. Correctly identifies and uses subject/verb agreement and adjectives. b. Identifies and uses nouns (singular, plural, possessive) correctly. c. Identifies and uses contractions correctly. d. Identifies and uses personal and possessive pronouns. e. Speaks and writes in complete and coherent sentences. f. Identifies and uses increasingly complex sentence structure. g. Distinguishes between complete and incomplete sentences. j. Uses resources (encyclopedias, Internet, books) to research and share information about a topic. k. Uses the dictionary and thesaurus to support word choices. l. Uses common rules of spelling and corrects words using dictionaries and other resources. m. Uses appropriate capitalization and punctuation (end marks, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks).

OVERVIEW: In this unit, students will be using informational resources to get factual details about a famous African American of their choice. The students will research their person using technology as well as literature. After gathering their information, they will use the information to write an informational essay that will consist of five paragraphs minimum. The media specialist will provide an initial lesson on how to use the search engines to locate information as well as literature. He will instruct the students on how to find factual material in the library. He will also instruct them on how compile information gathered and how to cite their sources. FINAL PRODUCT: An informational essay with a minimum of five paragraphs on a famous African American of their choice. A drawing, picture, etc must be included with the information gathered. LIBRARY LESSONS: The media specialist will teach the students research techniques and proper internet etiquette. He will also teach the students how to make sure the site is valid and the importance of citing sources that are used. This task will be carried out by lecture, and demonstrations with the use of a Promethean Board. He will create a pathfinder for the students to use to assist them with their research project. PRODUCT: Students will write an informational essay with a minimum of five paragraphs on a famous African American of their choice. A drawing, picture, etc must be included with the information gathered. PROCESS: Teacher will teach the writing process to students to make sure students know what they are expected to write. A sample essay broken into parts will be shown to the students to make sure there is a visual example of what is expected in the final product. The teacher will provide students with a list of famous African Americans that they can choose from. Graphic organizers will be used to help students begin their initial research planning. Teacher will monitor the students gathering and organization of information found during research. STUDENT SELF-QUESTIONING Students will use a rubric to make sure that their informational essay is organized and has all required criteria.

Does the essay contain the answers for the following questions: Who, What, When, How, Where, and Why? INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN DAY ONE 1. Activating Strategy Students will attend a lesson that the media specialist will give on locating factual information and how to access the material in the media center and on the web. They will be given the information needed to access the pathfinder for this assignment. 2. Activity One Students will choose their famous African American to conduct their informational essay. 3. Activity Two Students will receive information from the teacher about what is expected in the essay and shown and given an example to use. DAY TWO 1. Activating Strategy The teacher will go over information learned from the previous day to make sure that everyone understands what the expectations are for the assignment. Each student will be given a graphic organizer to help with organization. 2. Activity One Students will take their graphic organizers to the media center and begin their research on their topic. Students will compile the information found on their topic. 3. Activity Two The media specialist will assist the students will finding information and making sure the information is valid. He will also make sure that the student compiles information that is useful for their essay. DAY THREE 1. Activating Strategy The student will organize the information gathered from the previous day on to their graphic organizer and create an outline for their essay. 2. Activity One The student will begin writing their essay. The rough draft will be written not typed. 3. Activity Two

The student will complete their rough draft for teacher conference. Check for grammatical errors. The media specialist will help with making sure students citations of sources are included in their essays and are correctly identified. DAY FOUR 1. Activating Strategy The teacher will have a conference will each student about their rough draft. 2. Activity One The student will make corrections to their rough draft for the final product. The student will also make sure that they use the rubric to determine that all criteria are present in the essay. 3. Activity Two The student will rewrite their essay with the needed corrections. DAY FIVE 1. Activating Strategy The student will type their final product. The media specialist will assist the students with using the computer as a word processor. 2. Activity two The student will find, with the assistance of the media specialist, a picture or drawing of their famous African American using the Internet. RESOURCES STUDENTS WILL USE: www.google.com www.wikipedia.org www.biography.com www.infoplease.com www.galileo.usg.edu/kids www.ipl.org INSTRUCTION/ACTIVITIES:
DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

Provide instruction to students about how to write an informational essay. The teacher will use the Promethean Board to provide visual examples. The media specialist will use the Promethean Board to show students how to locate valid information for their essays using the pathfinder created for this project.
MODELING AND GUIDED PRACTICE:

The teacher will show a model of an information essay. The teacher will provide a list of famous African Americans for the students to choose from. The media specialist will provide guidance to the students when researching their famous person. He will also provide guidance in providing examples of appropriate citations.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:

The student will use the internet as well as printed resources to find information related to their famous African American. The student will complete a graphic organizer. The student will write an informational essay about a famous African American. The student will edit and revise their informational essay.
SHARING AND REFLECTING:

The student will write a paragraph to reflect on the information gathered and the experience they had with the process of completing an informational essay.
LESSON MATERIALS AND EQUIMENT:

o o o o o o

Promethean Board Computer Lab Graphic Organizers List of Famous African Americans Access to Media Center Pathfinder

FAMOUS AFRICANAMERICAN

Standards-Based Assessment Rubric Mode and Grade of Writing: Third Grade Informational

Exceeds Expectations 4 Topic is clear and focused throughout the piece. Includes relevant examples, facts, anecdotes, and details researched through a variety of resources. Ideas propose connections and extensions. Organization pattern is clearly based on introduction, hierarchy of ideas, sequence of steps or comparison, and an appropriate summary statement. Conveys information through use of chronological order, cause/effect, similarity/difference, or question and answer throughout the piece. Varied transitional elements effectively link ideas and parts of the paper (e.g. transiton words and pharses, use of paragraphs, bullets, subheadings, and numbering) throughout the piece. Uses a variety of sentence patterns and/or descriptive language throughout the piece.

Meets Expectations 3 Topic is clear and focused. Includes some relevant examples, facts, anecdotes, and details researched through a variety of resources. Ideas propose some connections and extensions. Organization pattern is based on introduction, hierarchy of ideas, sequence of steps or comparison, and an appropriate summary statement. Conveys information through use of chronological order, cause/effect, similarity/difference, or question and answer. Varied transitional elements effectively link ideas and parts of the paper (e.g. transiton words and pharses, use of paragraphs, bullets, subheadings, and numbering). Uses a variety of sentence patterns and/or descriptive language.

Approaching Expectations 2 Topic is somewhat clear and focused. Includes few examples, facts, anecdotes and details. Few connections or extensions offered.

Expectations Not Met 1 Little or no topic development and focus. Lacks examples, facts, anecdotes and details. No connections or extensions offered. Little or no organization. Information does not support topic.

Ideas Organization Style Conventions

Organization pattern is somewhat based on introduction, hierarchy of ideas, sequence of steps or comparison, and an appropriate summary statement. Information is loosely conveyed or connected to topic.

Limited use of transitional elements effectively link ideas and parts of the paper (e.g. transiton words and pharses, use of paragraphs, bullets, subheadings, and numbering). Limited use of a variety of sentence patterns and/or descriptive language.

Strong command of usage and grammar conventions evident. Application of spelling rules does not interfere with understandability throughout the piece. Strong evidence of the application of the writing process.

Command of usage and grammar conventions evident. Application of spelling rules does not interfere with understandability. Evidence of the application of the writing process.

Errors in usage and grammar conventions sometimes interfere with understanding. Application of spelling rules somewhat interferes with understandability. Some evidence of the application of the writing process.

Lacks transitional elements to effectively link ideas and parts of the paper (e.g. transiton words and pharses, use of paragraphs, bullets, subheadings, and numbering). Lacks variety of sentence patterns and/or descriptive language. Errors in usage and grammar conventions interfere with understanding. Application of spelling rules interferes with understandability. Little or no evidence of the application of the writing process.

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PERSONAL REFLECTION
When I first found out about this assignment I was not sure that I could complete it. I have no educational background and had no idea what standards were until recently. I thought that standards would only hinder instruction. I now see that standards can help enhance instruction. They provide a guide to go buy and it is possible to have innovative instruction in spite of the standards.

I think that my lack of an educational background actually helped with teacher collaboration. Due to my limited lack of knowledge the standards used in the lesson plan were mainly the teachers idea. All I required is that the use of technology be mentioned somewhere. This allowed her to make the lesson plan more useful for her needs. Luckily for me the lesson plan is easy to follow.

I actually learned something when we began using the lesson plan. I had never used a graphic organizer before. All I have ever used are outlines. I do plan on using them in the future. I guess I can now be smarter than a 3rd grader. When it was my turn to teach it was not as bad as I thought it would be. The kids actually paid attention! It was probably due to my use of a Promethean board for instruction. Something about viewing information on a big screen seems to capture students attention. Also my part was mainly about how to find information and there was no grade to be given just for that. I did have a couple of problems though. I brought my gear that I use to repair computers with me which I carry in a backpack. The first day I also had a box with a computer part in it. I had to convince some of the kids that I was not a student who got kept back a lot of times. The box that I was that day caused one of the

kids to think that I was a pizza delivery man. I told him that I was not but he said that I made him hungry.

My experience taught me that I still do not want to be a teacher. If I never hear be still or be quiet ever again it will be too soon. I may consider being media specialist one day though. It was not that bad. At least the kids know that you are supposed to be quiet in the library (although they rarely do).

http://psychology.about.com/od/apastyle/ig/APA-Format-Examples/references.htm