Name: Christy Barrow

Partner: Jordan Tindle

Grade Level: 4th grade
Lesson Duration: 45 minutes

Lesson Plan Guide: Literacy Lesson #1 (1 or 2 in the sequence)

Standards Standard 4-R1 The student will integrate various cues and
addressed: strategies to comprehend what he or she
See appropriate reads.
grade: 4-R1.1 Demonstrate the ability to use a variety of strategies to
www.myscschools. derive meaning from texts and to read
com fluently.
(English/LA)

Lesson
objective: The student will be able to create a K-W-L chart to
(Measurable & help them express what they know, wonder, and
observable) learned from reading Class President by Johanna
Hurwitz.

Assessment:
(Must match A chart- the students will create a chart that has three
objective and columns. The first column will state what the student
specify expected already knows about presidents and/or class presidents.
outcome) The second column will state what the student wants to
know or wonders about presidents, and the third column
will answer the student’s “wonder” questions. The
students will be assessed on their ability to organize and
put their knowledge, questions, and what they learned
into a chart. I will assess the questions that they have in
the class discussion and in their chart based on the
connections that they make to what they already know
and their ability to continue reading to answer their
questions with appropriate information from the text.

Materials:
1. Treasury of Literature Book
2. Paper
3. Pen

Relation of Whole: Comprehension

lesson plan to
Whole-Part- Part: The students will be able to activate prior
Whole: knowledge, ask authentic questions, and find answers in
the text through recording what they know, wondered,
 and learned.

Whole: Through creating a K-W-L chart, the students will

be able to better understand how to stop, think, and
wonder about what they are reading. By writing what
they know, students will activate prior knowledge; by
wondering about the text, students will ask authentic
questions; and students will learn by finding answers in
the text.

Lesson Plan Outline

Introduction:

Activating prior Activating prior knowledge:

knowledge (world
knowledge or “Can anyone tell me what the president of the United
literary States does?”
knowledge): Allow the students to raise their hands to answer the
question.
How will you “I want everyone to take turns telling the people at your
engage the table what you know about presidents.”
students, get Allow the students time to tell the students at their tables
them interested in what they know about presidents.
the lesson, and “Today we are going to read the beginning of the book
connect to Class President by Johanna Hurwitz.”
ongoing
instruction?
Procedures:
Modeling:

Explicit teaching 1. “A very helpful strategy that many readers

where you teach use to help them understand what they are
students one reading is questioning. Questioning should become
strategy for second nature because one can learn so much
reading more when they are able to stop, think, and
comprehension wonder about what he or she is reading.
through modeling
the strategy. “I am going to show you all an example of a
questioning technique that will help me
You must: organize the questions that I have about
• number your Class President. I’m going to draw my chart
procedures on the white board for everyone to see. The
• script out your K column will be what I know about
minilesson or presidents. The W column will be what I
wonder or want to know while I’m reading
 include what the book, and the L column will be what I
you will model learned through reading the story.”
in the copy of
the text you “First, I will write down what I know about
include with presidents in the first column of my chart.
this lesson plan Then as a begin reading the book, I will write
• bold the down questions that I am curious to know
teaching the answer to in the book. In the third
method you column I will write the answers to the
will be using questions that I asked. Some of the answers
will appear later in the text as I continue
reading.”

2. Model thinking out loud through saying the

things that I already know about presidents.

“I know that Barack Obama is the president

of the United State of America, so I will write
this in the “what I know” column. I will also
write that presidents make very important
decisions for our country, in the “what I
know” column.” The final thing that I will
write in the “what I know” column is that in
the United States, people vote for the
president.

Then I will begin reading the first three

pages of the book and stop to pause at parts
that I am curious about and have questions
for.

“I wonder how the class will elect the class

president? I’m going to write this question
down and then continue reading to see if the
answer appears later in the text.”

“Oh, here Cricket says that the class will

vote for the class president. Okay, just like
Guided we vote for the president in America. I will
Practice/Active put this information in the “learned” column.
Involvement:
“I wonder what qualities a president should
Time where you have? I’m going to write this question down
give students an in the “wonder” column because I am
opportunity to try curious about it.”
the strategy
during the “Here it says that presidents should be
minilesson. someone that everyone likes. Do y’all agree
with Arthur?”
Allow for a response.
“And here Mr. Flores says that presidents
should have leadership abilities. Now that I
know two qualities that presidents should
have, I will write that presidents should be
well liked in the “learned” column and I will
also write that presidents should be good
leaders in the “learned” column.”

“I wonder who will make the best class

president from Mr. Flores’ class? I should
right this down in the “what I wonder”
column.”

Link: “What do you all think? I will have to

continue reading to find out the answer.”
Link to
independent 3. Give the students the opportunity to listen to
reading where me read Class President and then fill in their own
they will practice K-W-L chart.
the new strategy
with their own “Now that I’ve shown you how to create a K-
texts. W-L chart from reading a text, I am going to
continue reading and I will take a break after
each paragraph for you to fill in your own
chart.”

4. Facilitate the guided practice through

reading aloud and stopping after each paragraph
for the students to write down their questions
and/or the information that they learned.

5. Observe the students as they are filling out

their charts. Walk around the room to make sure
that the students are writing down a lot of
questions and are also finding the answers to
some of their questions as I continue to read the
book. During this assessment, ask students some
of the questions that they have about being a
class president and what they have learned about
class presidents.
 “What are some of the qualities of a good
class president?”

Allow time for discussion.

“Who do you think would make the best

class president?”

6. When I feel like the students understand the

questioning strategy, I will let them finish reading
Class President with partners. I will pair the weak
readers with stronger readers, so that the strong
readers can help them. Each student will finish
filling out his or her chart. They will be able to
share their thoughts with their reading partner.

7. Confer with students who look as if they are

struggling (may not be writing down any or very
many questions, cannot find the answers to their
questions in the text). Guide them through reading
a paragraph and asking questions.

“How would you pick a class president?”

Link:

1. Make connections to students’ independent

reading.

“The next time you are reading a book, I

want you all to ask questions if you are
curious or do not understand something that
is going on. Questioning is a great strategy
that will help you all to understand what you
are reading at a higher level.”

Modifications if If lesson is too easy (on students’ independent level):

the lesson is too
difficult or too If student is having difficulty coming up with questions, I
easy: will provide one for him/her or ask his/her partner to help.

This is what you If a group of students finishes early, I will ask them to
plan to do during make a K-W-L chart on the back of the paper using a
the lesson You book that they are reading on their independent level.
must be ready to
implement what
you write in this
box…
Reflections on
lesson:

Half page bulleted

list for reading
methods class
assignment of
reflections on
your teaching.

Half page bulleted

list for reading
methods class
assignment of
your students’
learning.

Include both
successes and
areas for
improvement.