Name: Michelle Joyce

Grade/ Subject Area: 3rd grade/ Literacy

Type of Setting: This lesson will take place in a 3rd grade classroom with thirty-two
students at P.S. 7. This is a regular education class with students on different levels of
reading. The ethnicity of the class is a mixture of Hispanic and Caucasian.
Date of Lesson: March 27th, 2015
1. Purpose:
This is the fifth lesson of the Ready Gen Unit 1 Module A. Ready Gen is the
instructional program that P.S. 7 uses for Literacy. This lesson is designed for the
students to understand how to identify and describe how the book, The Case of the
Gasping Garbage, is structured. This lesson aligns with the Ready Gen program and
the Common Core Standards. Students will discover the structure of the book and
realize how texts are organized in different ways for the reader to understand.
2. Vocabulary and Key Terms:
Chapters: Section of a book.
Character traits: All aspects of a characters behavior and attitude whether
it is good or bad.
Index: An alphabetical reference of words at the end of a book.
Vocabulary from the text:
o Lab: A place where scientists conduct experiments and research with
special equipment.
o Affirmative: Agreeing with a statement.
o Observations: Using your senses to analyze something.
o Hypothesis: A scientific guess.
o Mediums: A substance in which bacteria or other microorganisms are
grown for scientific purposes.
o Culprit: A person who is responsible for a crime.
3. Skills:
Students have the ability to identify and describe character traits from a
text. Students are able to read and understand this book based on their reading
level.
4. Objectives:
Students will be able to:
Identify the characters, setting, and sequence of important events in the
chapters.
Identify the structure of the book based on chapters.

 Collect evidence from the story to use in the graphic organizer.

5. New York State Learning Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3:Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits,
motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the
sequence of events.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4.A: Read grade-level text with purpose and
understanding.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1:Ask and answer questions to demonstrate
understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the
answers.
6. Pre-Assessment
Students have the ability to recognize character traits and setting of a
story. Students have read Chapter 1 of The Case of the Gasping Garbage and
answered questions about the traits and motivation of the characters. The students
are also able to identify the setting of a text. This lesson will continue to expand
their knowledge about how the structure of a book uses these components such as
characters and setting, to organize a story.
7. Lesson Presentation:
Set Induction: (5 minutes)
1. The teacher will direct the students to sit in the meeting for the lesson.
The teacher will activate the prior knowledge of the students by beginning
a grand conversation. The teacher will explain to the students that they
previously learned about characters in a story and analyzed their traits,
feelings and motivations. The teacher will review what the students
learned yesterday about setting. The teacher will ask the students, What
did you learn yesterday about setting in a text? The teacher will have a
few students answer (Answers may vary).
2. The teacher will tell the students that they will continue reading the
book, The Case of the Gasping Garbage. The teacher will have the
students scan the book quickly by flipping through the pages.
3. The teacher will ask the students some guiding questions, How does
the author organize the book to show a sequence of events? The teacher
will guide the students to look in the front of the book and the different
sections of the book. The teacher will have a few students share their
answers with the class (Answers may vary). Answers may be setting,
chapters, titles and conflicts
4. The teacher will explain to the students that the author organized this
book into chapters to show the sequence of events that will happen in the
story.
B. Procedure: (15 minutes)
1. The teacher will explain to the students that texts are divided and
organized in many different ways. The teacher will say, A text or story
may have an introduction, chapters, or an index. The teacher will tell the

students that an index is an alphabetical reference of words that is usually

located in the back of the book to define a word that they might not know.
2. The teacher will show the students that the book, The Case of the
Gasping Garbage is divided into different sections called chapters. The
teacher will show the students the different chapters in the book. The
teacher will explain to the students that the first two chapters in the book is
a complete story because it has an introduction, characters, sequence of
major events, conflicts and a solution.
3. The teacher will show the second slide of the presentation on the Smart
board and explain it to the students. The teacher will explain to the
students that the author uses the chapters to organize the story to describe
the different settings, conflicts and characters so that the reader
understands what is happening in a sequence. The teacher will explain that
if chapters were not included in long books then the reader would be
confused about what is happening and everything would be combined
together to not make sense.
4. The teacher will tell the students that they will use a graphic organizer
to analyze how the author organized the book in chapters to help us as
readers to understand. The teacher will begin with Chapter 1 of the book.
5. The teacher will display the second slide of the presentation. The
teacher will explain to the students that they will use this checklist to
complete the task. The teacher will read the checklist to the students and
explain what the teacher expects as they work in a group and
independently.
6. The teacher will display the T-chart on the Smart board, which is the
third slide of the presentation. The teacher will remind the students that
they will complete the Chapter 1 side of the T-chart. The teacher will ask
the students the first question, Who are the characters in the first
chapter? The teacher will ask a few students to answer. The answers are
Doyle, Fossey, and Gabby (maybe Frisco). The teacher will ask the
students to describe the character along with the identification using
details that they remember from the book. The teacher will write the
answer on the Smart board in the graphic organizer.
7. The teacher will ask the students the second question on the T-chart,
What are the settings in the chapter? The teacher will ask a few students
to share the answer. The answers are Doyles attic or homemade lab, and
Gabbys house. If the students struggle with this question, the teacher will
expand the question and tell the students that there are two places that the
main characters had to go to help with their new investigation. The teacher
will write the answer on the Smart board in the graphic organizer.
8. The teacher will ask the students the third question on the T-chart,
What are the most important events in the chapter? The teacher will
have a few students share their answer (Answers may vary). The answers
may include
Gabby called Doyle and Fossey to help solve a case.
Gabby threatened to call Fisco.

Doyle and Fossey went to Gabby to examine the monster and

took it back to the lab for more observations.
The teacher will write the answers on the Smart board in the graphic
organizer.
9. The teacher will explain to the students that Chapter 1 is organized for
us as readers to understand the story of Doyle of Fossey.
10. The teacher will do a read aloud of the book from pages 10-13. The
teacher will display a few vocabulary terms on the board that the students
might not understand as they read (The teacher will keep these vocabulary
terms displayed on the Smart board throughout the read aloud). The
teacher will ask the students to turn to page 10 in their book and follow
along as they read together.
11. When the teacher finishes reading aloud page 13 of the book, the
teacher will ask the students to do a turn and talk and provide the guided
question, Who are some of the characters that we have seen so far in
Chapter 2? and What is the setting so far? The teacher will provide a
prompt to the students Some of the characters in Chapter 2 are and
The setting is. The teacher will give the students about two minutes
for discussion. The teacher will observe how the students communicate
with their partner.
12. The teacher will ask a few partners to share their findings with the
class. The teacher will ask the students questions to expand their answer
such as, What did this character do in the last few pages? The teacher
will do a quick check of thumbs up and thumbs down to ask the students if
they are ready to complete a similar graphic organizer for Chapter 2. If
there are students that are not ready the teacher will address their
misunderstandings.
13. The teacher will explain the activitys directions to the students. The
teacher will display the sixth slide on the Smart board with the directions
for the students to refer back to. The teacher will tell the students to read
the rest of Chapter 2 starting on page 14 to page 17. After they finish
reading they need to complete the graphic organizer. Then the teacher will
direct the students to return to their seats. The students will have about 20
minutes to read and complete the graphic organizer.
14. The teacher will observe and guide the students as they complete their
graphic organizers.
C. Closure: (5 minutes)
The teacher will ask the students, What are the sequence of events that
happened in Chapter 2 that helped you understand the story? The teacher
will have a few students share their answer.
8. Materials and Resources:
Checklist
Smart board presentation
Two Graphic Organizers for A&B students and C&D students
The Case of the Gasping Garbage Books
9. Follow-up Activity:

Students will be assigned to read Chapter 3 using a similar graphic organizer.

10. Evaluation/ Assessment:
The teacher will observe the students independent work after the formal lesson.
The teacher will write anecdotal notes based on the students progress throughout the
assignment. The anecdotal notes will include an evaluation of the students work based on
the completion of the assessment and correctness. The teacher will also observe and
evaluate the students ability to use the checklists provided and if he or she follows
directions to complete their work.
11. Differentiation:
Below average students: This lesson incorporates the different types of disabilities in the
classroom and all IEP students are accommodated. The teacher will help guide these
students and provide them with opportunities to ask questions and check to see if they
understand the content during the formal lesson and independent work. Below average
students will also be presented with different vocabulary definitions that they can
comprehend based on their reading level. These students will also complete a different
graphic organizer designed by the Ready Gen program, which categorizes students based
on their reading level and simulation performance. There will also be accommodated
seating arrangements for visually impaired learners.
Above average students: This lesson incorporates opportunities for these students to
complete a graphic organizer designed by Ready Gen, which involves analyzing the
chapters to identify the important events.
English Language Learners: A checklist will be provided to help guide these students
understand the assignments for the lesson. Prompts will be provided to these students to
help with group discussions.
12. Resources:
Pearson Ready Gen Instructional Program