University of Colorado- Denver

Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment

Comprehension Lesson with Embedded Attention to Language
Performance Based Assessment

Caroline Saunders Dr. Sherry Taylor

Student Professor

April 24th 2017

Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

Objective

Content Objective: Students will read the last two chapters of The Tale of Despereaux

by Kim DiCamillo. When doing this, students will consider the language DiCamillo uses and

analyze the meaning of words with the 4 Greek or Latin roots that we are studying. By analyzing

the words with the Greek and Latin roots we are studying, students will gain a better

understanding of what DiCamillo writes.

Language Objective: Students will be exposed to four Greek or Latin roots that we use

in our English language. The objective of my lesson is to integrate a word study of Latin and

Greek roots into the meaningful reading of text at the 5th grade level.

Rationale

I am teaching this lesson because the 4-5th grade students can build a foundation of Latin

and Greek roots. I have been working with this group of students for a few months and my role is

not their literacy teacher. My role as the special education teacher allows me to work with this

group of students. The lesson that I am teaching will take place in the morning when the student

get settled in the classroom because “exploring interesting new ideas in a community context sets

the tone for the day” (Fountas & Pinnell 2001).

The class is made up mostly of gymnasts. Our school hosts an education program through

a local gym where these young athletes start their days off with practice, come to school for a

few hours and then return for a second practice. There are 4 students of the 12 total who do not

participate in the gym program; however, they are a part of the class. All are from middle

socioeconomic families and are either Caucasian or Hispanic.

Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

This lesson will help students with their comprehension of written and oral material. I

believe that the earlier students are exposed to root words, the better they will be in their

academic career because they will use clues of what a word’s root means by studying these

definitions.

I am doing this lesson to expose my students to the 2nd Colorado Reading Standard as it is

laid out by the Colorado Department of Education. This standard reads, Prepared Graduate:

Interpret how the structure of written English contributes to the pronunciation and meaning of

complex vocabulary. (Page 19) The Evidence Outcome I am planning to accomplish is: b)

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on

grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. ii) Use common, grade

appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word.

I will set up the classroom using Cambourne’s Eight Conditions of Learning. For this

lesson, I will focus of the first condition, Use. According to Cambourne, he believes, “Providing

multiple opportunities for learner-readers to apply their developing skills and understandings

about reading and the reading process in authentic and meaningful ways” is the essence of use or

opportunity. I will give my students multiple opportunities to learn these 4 roots and apply them

to their everyday reading and conversation. The Tale of Despereaux will serve as the text for

identifying these words and figuring out meaning based on what we’ve done in class.

To properly teach this lesson, I will use the Word Study Design created by Fountas and

Pinnell, highlighted in chapter 3 of their Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6. I will use this

model to read aloud which will help expand vocabulary by presenting words in the book that we

are focusing on. I will demonstrate ways to derive word meanings from context by showing my
Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

students my thinking or think aloud. After reading from The Tale of Despereaux, we will have a

discussion that will focus on the new words with the roots we are focusing on.

Also, during this lesson, I will use the strategy of 3-2-1. I will to frequent check for

understanding with my students to make sure they comprehend with me. If the student gets it, he

will put up three fingers. If he is a little unsure, he will put up two fingers and if he’s totally lost

of confused, 1 finger will be shown. I like for my students to do this close to their chest so that

it’s more private.

Materials

The classroom will need the following:

 Desks

 Proper lighting

 White board

 Pencils

I’m providing to the students the following:

 A paper with the Latin and Greek roots (See below) that we are focusing on. This paper

will have the 4 words we are focusing on as well as the definition of each root and

examples of words they may hear in their everyday lives.

 I am also providing the students a school copy of Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

Students are able to take these books home to read on their free time and for homework.
Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

 Finally, I will provide a copy of the quiz that I will expect the students to complete. A

copy of the Quiz is shown below. This quiz has three parts to demonstrate knowledge:

(1) Matching, (2) Fill in the Blank and (3) Write Your Own Sentence.

Instructional Method and Tasks

I will use the Word Study Design to teach this lesson (Fountas and Pinnell 2001). Fountas

and Pinnell state “word study focuses on helping students learn about language and use it

effectively in different contexts.” (28) Not only do I want my students to learn these 4 root words

for this lesson, but I want them to use these words correctly in conversations and when reading.

I will start my lesson by gathering the students together. If they are comfortable, they can

stay in their seats, if they want to sit on the floor on a cushion that’s acceptable as long as

everyone is close to each other. Next, I will choose a student to pass out the Greek and Latin

Root Worksheet. I will take my time in going over each word, their definitions, origins and

examples of each word. I will check for understanding by using the 3-2-1 strategy. This strategy

“Provides a structure to record their own comprehension and summarize their learning. It also

gives teachers the opportunity to identify areas that need re-teaching, as well as areas of student

interest.” (teachertoolkit). This strategy is done somewhat privately by students showing me their

fingers close to their chest.

I will know if my students have learned from this lesson in three ways; by their

engagement in the discussion, the notes they take on the Greek and Latin Root Worksheet and

their performance on the Quiz. I will give them feedback by taking time to answer their

questions and offering answers. I will give student’s feedback by grading and making comments

on the quiz that they take. Students will move toward the direction of proficiency when they use
Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

these root words in conversation. I will encourage them to do so by giving incentives such as

extra points if they use words with these roots in written or oral language. Also, I will encourage

the students to try to find examples of the words in our everyday life. For example, if they are in

the clinic and see something with the root word for vision and either tell me about it or show me,

they will get extra points. I will use these fun ways to see how authentically they have learned

the definitions of these roots. This will be a way for students to generalize their knowledge of

these roots.

Assessment

This lesson will end by students taking a quiz that features the 4 roots that we have

focused on. It will be a paper format and students are expected to earn an 80% or higher. By

completing this assessment, students will demonstrate their knowledge of the 4 Greek or Latin

root words. This quiz features matching definitions, choosing the correct word to put in the

sentence (fill in the blank) and write a sentence using the word. The quiz is seen below titled:

Greek and Latin Root Quiz

I will also complete informal assessments continuing on to see if and when students use

these words in their conversations. If used correctly, this will tell me that students have truly

grasped the understanding words with these roots. It is important for students to understanding

the meaning of words with Greek and Latin roots when listening or reading but to use these roots

in their own language correctly will truly demonstrate comprehension.

Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

Reflection

This lesson went very well. Upon planning this lesson, I was afraid my students would

think this lesson to be boring, dull and uninteresting. I was worried about how I would engage 9-

10 year old boys into a language lesson about Greek and Latin roots. Most of my boys are only

interested in video games and YouTube videos. I wasn’t sure how I would get the group to take

this information in and apply it to their speaking, listening and reading. I was surprised to see the

students eager to share words that they came up with while going through the definitions. There

was quite a bit of chatter among the students as I went over the definitions. They were eager to

see if a word they came up with was actually a word. For example, one of my students said, “Is

visionology a word, you know like the study of seeing?” I thought this was great because he was

taking the information we were learning and trying to apply it to his schema. I will use this

lesson plan in the future and others like it to teach different Greek and Latin roots.

Finally, most of the students scored very well on the grammar quiz. 90% of the students

received a 100% for the matching section, which was great! 75% of the students scored 80% or

higher for the fill in the blank section and half of the students received full credit for the last

section. What I was most impressed by was that all of the students tried on the quiz. Though I

hope for it, I don’t expect 100% of my students to score 100% of every quiz. I am happy with the

results and I will continue to use these roots in our conversations to help the ones that didn’t fully

grasp the entirety of the lesson.

Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

Greek and Latin Root Worksheet

Name:_________________________ Date:____________________

Word Origin Definition Examples

pseudo- Greek Wrong, false, fake Pseudonym, Pseudoscience

helio- Greek Sun Heliogram,

Heliosphere

re- Latin Again, back, Rebound,

backwards Reverse

vis- Latin see Vision,

Envision

What other words can you think of that have these Latin or Greek roots? _______
___________________________________ _______________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

With the page number, find 3 words in our text from The Tale of Despereaux with
these roots._________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

Greek and Latin Root Quiz

Matching: Please match the definition to the correct root below.

1. _____ pseudo A. Again, back, backwards

2. _____ helio B. See
3. _____ re C. wrong, false, fake
4. _____ vis D. Sun

Fill in the blank: Please fill in the blank using the words from the box below

Heliocentric Vision Heliofugal Repeat Pseudologist Pseudonym

1. _________________ is the belief that the sun is the center of the universe.

2. The woman wrote a book under a______________ which is different from her real
name.

3. I went to go see the __________ specialist at the clinic because I was having trouble
seeing the board at school.

4. “Can you please ___________ that? I didn’t hear what you said.”

5. A ____________ is somebody who is a liar.

6. BONUS QUESTION: When something moves away from the object that gives us
light and warmth, that is called: ________________________

Write Your Own Sentence: Write your own sentence using the following words. Please be
creative and show me that you know the definition! (Don’t say things like ‘I looked up rebound
in the dictionary’.)
1. Envision:________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

2. Pseudoscience:___________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3. Heliosphere:_____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

4. Rebound:________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________
Caroline Saunders Reading Development, Instruction and Assessment
Comprehension Lesson With Embedded Attention to
Language Performance Based Assessment

References

3-2-1. The Teacher Toolkit. Retrieved from

www.theteachertoolkit.com/index/php/tool/3-2-1

Cambourne, B. (2000). Conditions for Literacy Learning. The Reading Teacher 54

(4), 414-417

CDE. “Colorado Department of Education.” Colorado Department of Education

Reading for all Purposes. N.p., nd. Web 23 Apr. 2017

Fountas, Irene C. and Pinnell, Gay Su. Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6.
Portsmouth: Heinemann. 2001