Comprehension Weekly Lesson Plans

Name: Kate Nelson Student Grade Level: 3rd Grade

The week of comprehension lessons will be taught to the whole class in three rotating groups.

My CT informed me that students have been focusing on comprehension strategies through the year. Comprehension is being able to use background
knowledge to further an understanding while reading. The students have read fiction and non-fiction texts through the year, but this time, we will be
focusing on discussion before and after the reading. Students will determine what they already know and what they have learned at the end of the
reading. Students have used highlighters every day in reading, but I notice that some students highlight the whole passage instead of important words
or phrases within the passage. Highlighting is an important reading strategy that will be a focus in each passage throughout the week. Being able to
identify important information in text is key when comprehending new text.

Objectives for weekThe students will use background knowledge to build comprehension and reading strategies, like highlighting, to comprehend a non-
fictional text.

SOLs for weekSOL 3.6 The student will continue to read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts.

f) Summarize major points found in nonfiction texts.

j) Use reading strategies to monitor comprehension throughout the reading process.
k) Identify new information gained from reading.
l) Read with fluency and accuracy.

The class will be reading about different animals throughout the week and focusing on SOL 3.6, specifically parts f, j, k, & l.

Monday BATS Tuesday BATS Wednesday PENGUINS Thursday -- TARANTULAS Friday CARIBOU

Topic: Identifying new
information found in the text
and using reading strategies
(highlighting) appropriately
(two upper level groups)
Objectives:
The student will
understand that the
passage is a
Topic: Identifying new
information found in the text
and using reading strategies
(highlighting and sticky
notes) appropriately (with
lower-ability group)
Objectives:
The student will
understand that the
passage is a
Topic: Identifying new
information found in the
text, use reading strategies,
read chorally with fluency
and accuracy (all groups)
Objectives:
The student will
understand that the
passage is a
Topic: identifying new Topic: identify previous
information found in the text, knowledge and new
use reading strategies, read knowledge found in the text,
chorally with fluency and use reading strategies
accuracy (all groups) (highlighting and sticky
Objectives: notes), and chorally read
The student will with fluency and accuracy (all
understand that the groups)
passage is a Objectives:
 nonfiction text about nonfiction text about nonfiction text about nonfiction text about The student will
bats. bats. a penguins body. tarantulas. understand that
The student will The student will The student will The student will caribou are a
know the color and know the color and know that the fins of know that a member of the deer
size of a bat. size of a bat. a penguin push them tarantulas venom is family with many
The student will The student will through the water compared to a bees different
know how bats look know how bats look quickly. venom. characteristics.
for food at night. for food at night. The student will The student will The student will
The student will be The student will be know that a know that tarantulas know
able to highlight able to highlight penguins legs and can be found in five Materials:
important facts while important facts while feet act as a rudder. continents. Highlighter
reading through the reading through the The student will The student will Pencil
text. text. know that a know that tarantulas Sticky notes
The student will be The student will be penguins coloring live in warm Caribou passages
able to recall facts able to recall facts acts as camouflage environments. (20-25)
about bats. about bats. from predators. The student will iPads (1 for teacher,
The student will be The student will be The student will be know that tarantulas 7-10 for each group)
able to look for able to look for able to recall facts are very different Before reading:
context clues in the context clues in the about a penguins than most spiders. Look at the pictures
passage to define the passage to define the body features. The student will of the caribou. Can
underlined words. underlined words. The student will be know that tarantulas you think of some
Materials: Materials: able to look for kick up their back animals that look
Highlighter Highlighter context clues in the legs when they feel similar? What could
Pencil Pencil passage to define the threatened. that tell you about
Bat passages (15) Sticky notes underlined words. The student will be the caribou?
Before the reading: I will Bat passages (5-10) Materials: able to name animals Continue to ask
start a pre-discussion on Before the reading: I will Highlighter that the tarantula questions related to
bats. Students will be start a pre-discussion on Pencil eats. caribou and their
prompted with questions and bats. Sticky notes The student will be previous experiences.
asked to turn-and-talk to the What are some Penguin Bodies able to name places Ask questions related
person next to them before things about bats passage (20-25) that the tarantula to also their food,
answering. that you know? Before reading: lives. adaptations, and
What are some Have you ever seen Ask questions related Materials: predators.
things about bats a bat? to penguins and their Highlighter Ask students what
that you know? If you have ever previous Pencil they already know
If you have ever seen a bat, what do experiences. Sticky notes about caribou.
seen a bat, what do you remember about Ask questions about Tarantula passage Activity: Students will bring a
you remember about it? What did it look a penguins body. (20-25) highlighter and pencil. All
it? What did it look What features can Before reading: students will be given sticky
 like? What was it
doing?
Are you scared of
bats? Why do you
think that people are
scared of bats?
Activity: I will prompt
students to read the passage
chorally. Allowing students to
read in this structure will
help to build their fluency. I
will tell them to highlight
important facts about bats
when we read together. I will
also give examples of words
or phrases that students can
highlight while reading the
passage. I will pause the
reading group after the
sentence that says that there
are thousands of types of
bats. I will model for the
students that this may be
important information and
highlight thousands of types
of bats.
Assessment:
What is the biggest
bat that the passage
talked about? How
about the smallest?
What do bats do in
the winter months?
Does anyone the
term when animals
travel to warm places
in the winter?
(hibernation)
like? What was it
doing?
Are you scared of
bats? Why do you
think that people are
scared of bats?
Activity: I will prompt
students to read the passage
chorally. Allowing students to
read in this structure will
help to build their fluency. I
will tell them to highlight
important facts about bats
when we read. At this time, I
will hand out sticky notes to
students. I will explain to
them that the sticky notes
will be used to write down
details that are important
about bats. I will explain to
the students that sticky notes
are a good way to take notes
and remember what you are
reading about. I will remind
them again to read along,
highlight, and write down
important facts since we will
be having a discussion after
the reading. I will tell them to
highlight important facts
about bats when we read
together. I will also give
examples of words or
phrases that students can
highlight while reading the
passage. I will pause the
reading group after the
sentence that says that there
are thousands of types of
bats. I will model for the
they tell me about
their body? Color?
Shape? Fins?
Activity: Students will bring a
highlighter and pencil. All
students will be given sticky
notes at this time. Students
will be told that we will be
having a discussion after the
reading, so they are to follow
closely along and
comprehend what they are
reading. They will also be
instructed to highlight and
write down important facts
throughout the reading. I will
prompt students to read the
passage chorally. Allowing
students to read in this
structure will help to build
their fluency.
Assessment:
At this time, I will
test the students
knowledge on
penguins bodies. I
will ask questions
related to the
penguins body
shape, fins, legs and
feet, and
camouflage. I will
also discuss content
that they learned
about penguins that
they did not know
before.
Ask questions related notes this time. Students will
to tarantulas and be told that we will be
their previous playing Kahoot! after
experiences. reading, so they are to follow
Ask questions about closely along and
tarantulaswhere comprehend what they are
they live, what they reading. They will also be
eat. instructed to highlight and
Activity: Students will bring a write down important facts
highlighter and pencil. All throughout the reading. I will
students will be given sticky prompt students to read the
notes at this time. Students passage chorally. Allowing
will be told that we will be students to read in this
having a discussion after the structure will help to build
reading, so they are to follow their fluency.
closely along and Assessment: Technology will
comprehend what they are be integrated into the final
reading. They will also be comprehension lesson of the
instructed to highlight and week. Students will play
write down important facts Kahoot! on the iPads
throughout the reading. I will provided (8-10 iPads will
prompt students to read the need to be reserved in
passage chorally. Allowing advance). Assessment will
students to read in this take place at this time.
structure will help to build Approximately 5-7 questions
their fluency. will be displayed on Kahoot
Assessment: related to the Caribou
At this time, I will passage.
test the students
knowledge on
tarantulas. I will ask
questions related to
a tarantulas habitat
and diet. I will also
discuss if students
are scared or not
scared of tarantulas
after reading this
passage. I will also
discuss content that
 How are bats helpful students that this may be they learned about
to us? important information and tarantulas that they
How do bats find highlight thousands of types did not know before.
food at night? of bats.
Everyone look at the
first underlined Assessment:
word: wingspan. Did What is the biggest
anyone highlight or bat that the passage
can anyone point out talked about? How
clues that define the about the smallest?
word? When do bats sleep?
Everyone look at the How do bats find
second underlined food at night?
word: nocturnal. Did Everyone look at the
anyone highlight or first underlined
can anyone point out word: wingspan. Did
clues that define the anyone highlight or
word? can anyone point out
Everyone look at the clues that define the
third underlined word?
word: echolocation. Everyone look at the
Did anyone highlight second underlined
or can anyone point word: nocturnal. Did
out clues that define anyone highlight or
the word? can anyone point out
Are you still scared or clues that define the
not scared of bats word?
after reading this Everyone look at the
passage? third underlined
What is something word: echolocation.
that you learned Did anyone highlight
about bats that you or can anyone point
did not know before? out clues that define
Can you think of the word?
another title for the Are you still scared or
passage other than not scared of bats
Bats!? after reading this
passage?
 What is something
that you learned
about bats that you
did not know before?
Can you think of
another title for the
passage other than
Bats!?
Were there any facts
on your sticky notes
that we did not
discuss?
Were the sticky
notes helpful to you
when you read? Do
you think they would
be helpful to you if
you were reading a
chapter book?

Technology Integration: The assessment tool Kahoot! will be integrated into Fridays lesson. This tool will be used to assess students comprehension of the
informational text about Caribou. Students will have been reading different texts all week, and been asked the same type of comprehension questions that
Kahoot! will ask. Students will be engaged during the reading so they are able to answer the questions to the best of their ability. Kahoot! will already be
pulled up on their iPads before they arrive at the group in order to save as much time as possible.
 REFLECTION Comprehension

Planning the week of literacy lessons was difficult because my CT had directed me to teach a third grade reading SOL of my choosing. This was a positive
and negative aspect in that there were so many lessons I could teach. I decided to choose to complete lessons on comprehension because students had
completed comprehension packets previously and they did not do well. It may have been because it was the same type of questions every day for each chapter,
so I wanted to create a lesson that was discussion-based that would interest the students. When I informed my CT that I chose to teach comprehension, she
stated that it would be great because it is an important skill that the students will carry through this year and every one after. Since my CT was not teaching
specific readings for the week, I chose different non-fiction informational texts about animals for students to read each day. From my lesson, I taught the days of
Monday and Tuesday because they were both differentiated, but each group read the same passage. The passage was read chorally with three rotating groups,
and it worked out very well.

Overall, I am content with how the lesson went with the class. I taught this lesson to three separate groups from 9 to 10 am, teaching to each group for
18 minutes. The groups were in rotation order from lowest ability to highest ability groups. My first group that I taught did not go as productively as I would have
hoped. We had a great discussion about their knowledge on bats before we read the passage, but students behavior during the reading was unacceptable.
Students were stealing each others pencils, not paying attention, and talking to each other during the reading. I had to pause several times to regroup everyone,
and even my CT had to interject. Once we read through the bat passage, students were able to tell me what they wrote on the sticky notes. Students were taking
notes while we read about bats. I asked them at the end, Do you think that the sticky notes were helpful to you while reading? Or do you like highlighting
more? Most students replies consisted of, I liked the sticky notes, but highlighting is easier to do. I then let them know about the importance of taking notes
while you read because you comprehend what you read into your own words. I let them know that the purpose of the sticky notes were to expose them to a
different comprehension strategy, apart from highlighting. Specifically for this group, if I were to implement this lesson again, I would model how to use the
sticky note instead of explaining in words. Most students understood the big idea, but I could tell that they were writing words and phrases down that we would
discuss as a group. The main idea of the sticky notes was that they would write down notes on their own while we read.

The last two groups went better than the first group. As I had done with the first group, we read the passage chorally. For the first group, it went smoothly,
but for the second and third group, we had to try whisper reading, too. Students were not reading out loud together, so every now and again, I would speak up
and get the students reading back on track together. For the last two groups, the before discussion was rich in information. Many students knew a lot of facts
about bats, with many students stating:

I saw a bat suck blood out of my cow once!

I know bats are nocturnal.
Bats sleep in caves upside down.

The discussion lasted only for a few minutes because I wanted to have time for the students to read. A part I changed for the lesson for each group is that I
would stop students reading after every paragraph and then we would discuss what we just read, rather than at the end. By making this change, it allotted
enough time to talk about everything we read. It also left some time at the end to discuss information that students learned that they did not know before. As I
had never led a small reading group before, I was unsure of how long it would take for students to read the whole passage.
 Overall, I am happy with how the lesson went. I was honestly unsure if it would be a learning experience for me because my CT directs reading groups all the
time, so it is not something new for the students. I learned a lot from this lesson, though. Students love talking about their different experiences, and in allowing
them to do so, it will keep them engaged with the content. I allowed everyone to speak of an experience with bats before the reading, monitoring the time for
each person, and it worked out well. Students were excited to read, especially with Ms. Nelson. Students would talk about their experiences throughout the
reading and be able to connect new content to their previous knowledge. For example, a student had stated, When I was in New York, my uncle got bitten by a
bat. When we read how bats carry rabies, but it is rare that the bite can cause rabies to humans, the student had pointed out that her uncle was OK. As an
experience that she had with bat bites, she learned more information on the topic that she was able to connect to her life. The main idea I got from my lesson
implementation is it is important to choose texts that students will be able to connect to because it furthers their learning with the material in many ways.
Bats-First and Second Day passage
Penguin Bodies-Third Day passage
Tarantulas-Fourth Day reading passage
Caribou-Fifth Day reading passage with technology integration