Volcano Information Paragraph

Author: Ilona Loni Chasar Taught: 2/1; 10:40-11:20 Subject: Science & Language Arts Grade: 3; Chapin School Standards: 5.4.6.C.2 Distinguish physical properties of sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic rocks
and explain how one kind of rock could eventually become a different kind of rock.

W.3.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Topic: Igneous Rocks, Volcanoes, and Information Paragraph Background Knowledge: The third grade students have been learning about the three
different types of rocks. The students have recently been focusing on igneous rocks and created Powerpoint presentations on their selected volcanoes. Based on the Powerpoint presentations the students will learn how to construct a strong information paragraph about their volcano.
Objective: Students will be able to properly structure an information paragraph about the

volcano they have been studying.

Materials: 20 sentences on different colored paper, Smartboard, and Hamburger Diagram Anticipatory Set: Good morning boys and girls, you did a wonderful job creating Powerpoint presentations about volcanoes! I know when I was in third grade I loved learning about the three different types of rocks, but igneous rocks are so interesting. I also found facts about a volcano that I found was very interesting and exciting! Now you third graders have learned how to research a topic and create a Powerpoint we are going to learn something very important to help us become amazing authors. We are going to learn how to write an information paragraph so today we are combining Language Arts and Science. Please remember to raise your hand when you would like to participate. Please raise your hand if you want to put all of the facts you have found from your Powerpoint into a paragraph form so you can educate your parents! Allow students to respond. I am excited you want to put all of the great research and facts into your writing. You are going to teach your parents about the volcano you have researched and I am sure they will enjoy reading and learning! When you are a writer you have to grab the readers interest by grabbing their interest and you would like to teach them about something you have learned! Please raise your hand if you have ever read a book and you just could not put it down. Allow students to respond. Me too! Those authors are good writers and I am going to help you become a better writer today. I am going to help you become better authors by writing strong information paragraphs because you all did a wonderful job with your Powerpoints about volcanoes. I learned so much about the exciting topic! Procedure: Before you work on one with your group lets do one together boys and girls. I am going to teach you the parts of an information paragraph about the volcano I learned about. The students have 5 facts about their volcanoes, but to get through the lesson I have only included 3 facts. The following sentences will be typed on the Smartboard: Surtsey is a dormant volcano that was formed from an eruption and has pretty cool facts about the eruption. Surtsey is a volcanic island that broke through the surface of the sea on November 14,

1963 and it rose about 500 feet above the sea. The island was formed from this strato volcano and is about a square mile which is half the size of New York City's Central Park! The island formed from lava erupting in water and the rock can easily erode so the island has gotten smaller since the eruptions have stopped. Surtsey is one of the newest volcanic islands and it has a cool history since it broke through the ocean! Before I teach you about how I made my paragraph, please raise your hand if you can tell me what the word erode means. Allow students to respond. Correct, erode means it is slowly slipping away and getting smaller. Most things in nature erode due to weather, but you notice the more you use your pencil eraser it gets smaller so it is beginning to erode. When you are writing about a topic you want to grab the readers interest and the reader needs to know what he or she will be reading about. The first sentence is called a topic sentence. Your first sentence when writing should be a topic sentence that introduces the topic and something that lets the reader know about what they are reading. The sentences after the paragraph, which is these four sentences are called the body. The body in my paragraph is three sentences or three facts, but when I was looking at your Powerpoint I saw you had five facts. Three to five facts is acceptable, but one fact would not be okay. Does anyone know what the last sentence is called? Allow students to respond. Correct, a conclusion sentence. An easy way to remember a conclusion comes at the end is because is begins with the same letter as close, c. You close your paragraph with a conclusion sentence that conclusion sentence should have some facts to end the paragraph. You can tell I was excited about what I learned about Surtsey since I told you what I thought was cool about my volcano! On a piece of paper please write down a sentence you would start a paragraph with if I was about to read a story about you. For example, if I was about to write a story about myself, I would write, I am Miss Chasar and I know I want to be a teacher when I grow up. When you have written down a sentence please put your pencil down and look at me so I know you are ready. Allow students to write. If time allows allow students to share their topic sentence about themselves. Wow! As I was walking around I was seeing some sentences that were making me excited to learn more about who you are and what your life is like! Now we know how to write a strong topic sentence, the three sentences after the topic sentence are facts about the topic I told you I was going to tell you about. If I was writing a story about myself I would write three more facts about me, but you can see here I told you three pretty cool facts about my volcano. Raise your hand if you thought it was interesting and you were excited to learn more about Surtsey! Allow student to raise their hand. Me too! When I was researching Surtsey I learned so much! I like to think of an information paragraph as a sandwich. Pull up sandwich diagram on Smartboard. The topic sentence is the top of my hamburger bun and you cant have a great sandwich without great bread! The meat and toppings in my burger are my interesting facts and the conclusion sums up what I told you about in the paragraph. If you are missing any part you cannot have a sandwich, so we need to make sure we are building great sandwiches boys and girls, this is how we become better writers. Label my sentences on the board.

Assessment: Since you all did so well last week in your debate with me, I want you and your group a challenge to try to figure out which sentences should be which part of the sandwich! I am giving each group 5 sentences and quietly I want you to work as a team to figure out what sentence is my topic sentence, what are the three facts, and what is my concluding sentence. When you are done please raise your hand so I can see what you have decided. I will hold onto it until we start the next part of the activity Walk around as students try to piece the paragraph together. The sentences will have different colors for each sentence so the students will have a visual cue when looking at the sentences as the group presents them to the class. Students may try to looks at other students desk, if that is the case encourage them to take a risk and try it a way they feel makes more sense, because maybe there could be more than one answer. Take the sentences away after they are done so students do not switch the order of the sentences. One of the five sentences below will be on each of the pieces of paper. Each igneous rock variety has uses of its own, but there are certain characteristics and actual uses for this type of rock. Two of the most common igneous rock types are basalt and granite. Igneous rocks are formed when molten lava turns to a solid form. The most common igneous rock characteristics are the size of the crystal and color of the rock. These were some igneous rock facts which make these rocks one of the most commonly used rock type on the planet since it is everywhere. Boys and girls, give yourself snaps for working so well as a team! I would like each group member to come up and read their paragraph to me and I will read your concluding sentence. Allow all four groups to participate and point out how some groups ordered theirs differently. If no group has a different order ask if it would be okay if I switched some of the facts referring to the different colored facts on their desks. Third grade, is it okay if the facts are in a different order? Please raise your hand if you think it is okay to have them in a different order. Right! It is okay! The only two sentences that need to be at the beginning and end are the topic and concluding sentence. I know in Language Arts you learned how to write How To stories and you learned about transition or

linking words. You can use linking words to help the paragraph flow more. I have added some transition words to my paragraph. Pull up word document with linking words. Surtsey is a dormant volcano that was formed from an eruption and has pretty cool facts about the eruption. Surtsey is a volcanic island that broke through the surface of the sea on November 14, 1963 and it rose about 500 feet above the sea. As a result of the eruption the island was formed from this stratovolcano and is about a square mile which is half the size of New York City's Central Park! Also, the island formed from lava erupting in water and the rock can easily erode so the island has gotten smaller since the eruptions have stopped. Surtsey is one of the newest volcanic islands and it has a cool history since it broke through the ocean! Now that you have learned how to write an information paragraph I would like you to write two or three sentences you may want to start your paragraph off with about you volcano. Once you have written them put a star next to your favorite and maybe that can be the sentence you start your paragraph with! Conclusion: As I was walking around I saw some sentences that made me want to learn more about your volcano, great topic sentences boys and girls! Now everyone will add their facts and a conclusion sentence for your volcano and now you have learned how to write an information paragraph! Mrs. Nelson is going to work with you more on how to construct your information volcano in the next Science lesson. Modifications: Different color strips were used for the sentences since some students in the class have difficulties seeing, but they are seated at the front of the room. If time is running out I will not teach about linking or transition words and it can be part of the next lesson when the students are working on their paragraphs. Reflection: The lesson went well overall, but there were a few things I would have done differently. I pulled up the document for the lesson on the Smartboard and everything was working fine. When I began to write on the Smartboard nothing I was writing was appearing. The children were trying to help, but everything I was clicking on to make the board normally work was not working. I began to get nervous since it was the first time I was being observed, my whole lesson was on the board, and I had no idea what to click on to make the board fix. I admitted to the children, Well, the Smartboard is not cooperating with me, but that is okay. Sometimes things with technology do not always work or cooperate when we want them to. I talked about the topic sentence, three facts, and the conclusion sentence without labeling them on the board as I planned. I continued with the lesson allowing the students to write topic sentences about themselves and while they were working I quickly taught myself how to calibrate the board and then moved around the room. I thought I handled it well since I am not comfortable with the Smartboard, I fixed the problem by myself, and my instruction was not affected. Having the students practice writing topic sentences about themselves was very effective, but I thought I was going to run out of time so I did not have the students share their sentences about themselves. Some of the students were struggling with the topic sentence and a few students asked me the same question. When the students asked me the same question I should have had the students put their pencils down, look at me, and address the whole class with the answer to the question. The students were confused if they should have been writing more about themselves or writing a topic sentence about

their volcano. Some of the students could have had stronger topic sentences which I could have helped steer them more in the right direction, but I did not want to correct them in front of the class. When the students were defining erode some of their definitions were off so I should have clarified their incorrect answer more clearly immediately after they answered the question. The students worked well together when they had to formulate their paragraph with the five different color strips. Only one group had a different order than another group, but they enjoyed voting with their heads down if the order of the facts did or did not matter. I had the text color coordinated on the board, but I was thinking it may have looked better if I had the text highlighted to match the color of the pieces of paper it may have been an even more effective visual for the students. I thought my classroom management skills went well, when students began to talk I used my proximity or directing my eyes towards them as I continued to talk. The students participated, were engaged, and enjoyed the activities. They seems to enjoy the new concept I have introduced of giving themselves snaps at the end of the lesson when they have done a good job instead of clapping and cheering, because I know they can get out of control. I walked around the room reading students sentences, giving them positive reinforcement, or a hint to help them write another topic sentence. I noticed when I wanted each group to read one sentence about igneous rocks before I closed the students began to discuss who was going to read the sentence. To avoid any conflict I called on students in the group to read the sentence. Mrs. Nelson expressed she was pleased with the lesson since she just told me they need to write an introduction paragraph and enjoyed how the students were interacting with each other and participating. The students wrote great topic sentences and understood the importance of a topic sentence based on what they had written and now know how to construct an information paragraph. I was particularly proud of how I handled the Smartboard issue. If I could not have gotten the board to work I could have used the computer next to the board to scroll, but it is easier to use the board while I am teaching the class.

Supervisor Reflection: Today, February 1, 2012 Ms. Chasar taught a 35 minute Science/Language Arts integrated
lesson to 15 3rd graders at the Chapin School. The lesson used Geological facts about igneous rocks to begin writing an informational paragraph. The lesson allowed all students to participate. Ms. Chasar circulated comfortably around the room while the children worked. Standards #1 &4 - The lesson was age appropriate and the content was accurate. Ms. Chasar referred to power point presentations that the students had created about volcanoes. Standards #2 & 3 & 5 & 6 & 8- Keeping in mind the individual needs of the students, a variety of techniques were used to engage all students. These included using different colors for the sentence strips to accommodate a child with some perceptual challenges. All students benefitted from the colors. Teams used the strips to show their understanding of the paragraph's organization. The lesson focused on topic sentences, which the students worked on individually and then volunteers shared. This allowed all students to show their comprehension of the concept. Ms. Chasar used the Smartboard for this lesson in a clear, effective manner. Standard #7 - Thorough planning resulted in a solid lesson that the students responded to enthusiastically. Standard #9 - Ms. Chasar had included thorough reflections for the few lessons she has presented to date. Her response to suggestions is very positive. Standard #10 - This lesson was previously presented to the co-op's class and I observed it in the neighboring class. Both teachers volunteered to sit in for a brief meeting after the students left for lunch. This is a great opportunity for collaboration.

Areas to consider include moving away from speakers, so that all can hear; developing a list of phrases to use to encourage and comment on effort; repeating instructions to all when it appears that a few (indication that there are others!) who may not have heard or understood directions; and starting a 'bag of tricks' list of good ideas from other teachers and ones that have worked. Very good lesson! Loved your conclusion to the class that they are developing 'a bundle of writing knowledge'! Previous to beginning the student teaching program, Ms. Chasar visited the school twice. She has already attended an evening program and attended 'special' classes with the students. She has jumped in and offered to take over the warm-ups for Math. Her binder includes the school's handbook and seminar articles and information.

The following was displayed on the SMARTboard:

Surtsey is a dormant volcano that was formed from an eruption and has pretty cool facts about the eruption. Surtsey is a volcanic island that broke through the surface of the sea on November 14, 1963 and it rose about 500 feet above the sea. The island was formed from this stratovolcano and is about a square mile which is half the size of New York City's Central Park! The island formed from lava erupting in water and the rock can easily erode so the island has gotten smaller since the eruptions have stopped. Surtsey is one of the newest volcanic islands and it has a cool history since it broke through the ocean!

Surtsey is a dormant volcano that was formed from an eruption and has pretty cool facts about the eruption. Surtsey is a volcanic island that broke through the surface of the sea on November 14, 1963 and it rose about 500 feet above the sea. As a result of the eruption the island was formed from this stratovolcano and is about a square mile which is half the size of New York City's Central Park! Also, the island formed from lava erupting in water and the rock can easily erode so the island has gotten smaller since the eruptions have stopped. Surtsey is one of the newest volcanic islands and it has a cool history since it broke through the ocean!

Each igneous rock variety has uses of its own, but there are certain characteristics and actual uses for this type of rock. Two of the most common igneous rock types are basalt and granite. Igneous rocks are formed when molten lava turns to a solid form. The most common igneous rock characteristics are the size of the crystal and color of the rock. These were some igneous rock facts which make these rocks one of the most commonly used rock type on the planet since it is everywhere.

Each igneous rock variety has uses of its own, but there are certain characteristics and actual uses for this type of rock. Igneous rocks are formed when molten lava turns to a solid form. The most common igneous rock characteristics are the size of the crystal and color of the rock. Two of the most common igneous rock types are basalt and granite. These were some igneous rock facts which make these rocks one of the most commonly used rock type on the planet since it is everywhere.

Each igneous rock variety has uses of its own, but there are certain characteristics and actual uses for this type of rock. The most common igneous rock characteristics are the size of the crystal and color of the rock. Two of the most common igneous rock types are basalt and granite. Igneous rocks are formed when molten lava turns to a solid form. These were some igneous rock facts which make these rocks one of the most commonly used rock type on the planet since it is everywhere.