Lesson Plan FALL Semester 2014

Name: Amy Jorgensen

Grade Level: 4th
Duration: 20 minutes

Subject/Activity: Language Arts/Guided Reading

Common Core State Standards / Grade Level Learning Expectations:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and
when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1.B

Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.A

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on
that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under
discussion.
Instructional Learning Objectives:

Assessment*:

What do you expect students should learn/do by the end of

the lesson (Performance-based, Cognitive, Affective)?

How will students demonstrate that they have met the

specific lesson outcomes/expectations?

Students should recall key ideas and

details during group discussion from the
text in order to explain their
understanding.
Students should demonstrate how each
category within the depth and
complexity worksheet relates to the text
by using evidence from the text to
support their thinking. They will do this
by writing out their answers on a
worksheet.
When they go back to their desks,
students should be able to write out
their interpretation of what the big idea
of the story is using complete sentences
and evidence from the text to support
their ideas.

Students will have pre-read the text on

their own and I will assess their overall
comprehension by asking guiding
questions that help students give a
summary of the text.
Students will develop their
understanding by engaging with one
another in group discussion,
contributing their ideas, and classifying
how these ideas relate to a depth and
complexity category within our
worksheet.
Students will demonstrate their mastery
of the text by stating ideas and giving
evidence of their ideas from page
numbers in the text.
Students paper will be collected before
lunch as an exit ticket out the door, so
that the teacher can evaluate students
understanding of the big idea of the
text.
Students will be expected to fill out the
big idea box on their worksheet in
complete sentences with evidence to

support their answer. Teacher will

assess their understanding when
collecting the worksheet.
Language Development Activity(ies): Considering the importance of speaking/listening/reading and/or writing
as a part of all learning, what specific language skill or skills will you be developing during this activity?

Students will be reminded of speaking and listening expectations within a group

discussion setting. (ex: paying close attention to a classmate contributing ideas, not
interrupting a classmate, and thinking before speaking.)
Students will be asked to develop their language skills by providing the group with in text
support for each answer during discussion.
Students will demonstrate their comprehension of the text and assignment by writing
their thoughts in complete sentences.

Instructional Materials and Resources (teacher and student):

Readers Library Journeys Text: Elena in America by Robin Bloksberg
+Students will be given this text on Monday and will be instructed to read the
text before our group discussion on Tuesday.
Depth and Complexity worksheet
+Students will not be given this worksheet in advance because we will be
completing it together during our small group time.
Student Prior Knowledge: What knowledge do your students have related to the instructional learning objectives
and activities of this lesson? What misconceptions do you need to address in this lesson based on prior
knowledge/experience?

Students will have read the text Elena in America before group discussion
and have prior knowledge of the plot of the story by completing their prereading
Students have prior experience using evidence and detail to support their
ideas from a text.
Students have an understanding of the meaning of each depth and
complexity category we will be discussing.
Students have prior experience participating in small groups and working
together to respectfully contribute ideas.

Anticipatory Set (The Beginning of your lesson/activity):

Students need to be reminded of the importance of group discussion and how contributing ideas
with one another is a useful life-long tool.
I will emphasis the importance and practicality of the topic of depth and complexity, in order to
motivate students learning throughout the activity.

Transition from Previous Activity: How will you

transition students from the prior activity to this
lesson/activity? (List steps/expectations)

Students will be working

individually as I call reading
groups back to participate in this

Rapport/Motivation: How will you incorporate or

build on students prior knowledge? What
experiences/backgrounds and/or interests do students bring
that could be used to excite students to the activity?

Behavior Expectations/Conduct:
What are your expectations for students behavior during the
anticipatory set? What teaching behaviors/strategies will
you implement during the main instructional activity that
encourages and supports appropriate student behavior and
minimize behavior issues?

reading/writing Depth and

Complexity worksheet.
We have been introducing this
topic of Depth and Complexity to
students over the past several
weeks. They have flash cards
with each discipline and its
definition that they will bring to
our reading group. This will assist
them in their learning.
Because they are still learning
and developing their ideas about
the topic of depth and
complexity, it will be an exciting
and new discussion for them.
They will get to see an additional
example of how we can use this
practice to discover new things
about a text.
Students will be reminded of
respectful behaviors to exhibit
during group discussions.
They are expected to paying close
attention to a classmate if he/she is
contributing ideas. This also includes
accepting others ideas if they are different
than our own.
Students will raise their hand before
speaking so that we do not speak over one
another during discussion.
If I see a behavior problem during our
activity, I will address it immediately by
asking the student to follow our group
discussion rules.

Main Portion (body) of the Activity/Lesson**:

As previously stated, students will have read the story Elena in America
prior to group discussion.
Students will be reminded of group discussion rules and how I expect
them to behave.
We will first discuss a summary of the text before I give the students their
worksheet.
We will go page by page and talk about what happened to the main
character at each part in the text.

 I will use guiding questions to spark students thinking. (14 minutes)

(Pages 22-29)
1) How did Elena describe the Russia she lived in when she was nine?
2) In what two places does Elena live once she moves to America? Which of
those two places do you think she felt more comfortable? Why?
(Pages 29-33)
3) Is it hard for Elena to make friends at school? Why do you think that?
4) What is the authors viewpoint towards Elena? (Think about how the
author chooses to tell us about Elenas experience)
(Pages 34-38)
5) How do Elenas teammates help her adjust to America?
6) Why will Elena always be a Russian girl?
7) What happens at the end of the story? (Have students try to think of the
theme of the story)
After we go over a summary of the text, I will motivate students learning
by explaining to them why thinking in depth and complex ways is so
important. I will remind them that it is a skill to keep their brain sharp and
they can use it throughout their lifetime (in school, at work, in social
situations, etc.). (2 minutes)
Students will each receive a depth and complexity worksheet. We will
complete the worksheet in an I do/We do, You do setup. (5 minutes)
1) I do/We do: I will model for students how I would like them to complete
the first box in their worksheet on patterns from the text they read.
Students will participate in group discussion with my guiding questions. I
am modeling the first box for students, but also allowing them to
contribute their ideas and opinions. Then, I will fill out a few of my own
ideas on the worksheet to model my expectations.
2) You do: The last box on the worksheet entitled big idea will be for
students to complete individually. This will be a way for me to assess if
students are connecting their own ideas about the text to the task I want
them to complete. They will go back to their desks individually. They will
complete their box by answering in complete sentences with textual
evidence.
As a way to assess student learning, I will collect students worksheets as
their exit ticket to lunch. This will give me an opportunity to look over
students work. I will get to see what concepts within this depth and
complexity lesson that I need to reteach or re-emphasis while teaching.
Closure: How will you bring closure to this activity/lesson? How will you transition students to the next activity?
As I close up our group discussion, I will first ask students to answer this question honestly,
Did the story have more meaning after thinking about it in new ways? If the answer is no, or
if student seem unsure, I will ask them to write on this on the back of their page, One thing I
am still confused about with depth and complexity is. From there, I will be able to read their
misunderstandings along with the worksheet they turn in to me.

Then, I will ask students to complete the You do step at their desk individually. Students will
be asked to complete this step at their desk while I continue to work with other groups during
the morning. From there, I will continue calling back reading groups to complete this lesson.