LESSON PLANNING CHART

Subject ___Reading___________

Name __Jenna Volkmann

MATERIALS
Instructional Steps
DATE
LEARNING
Text, page #s, etc.
PROCEDURES
OBJECTIVE(S)
TECHNOLOGY*
& Differentiation
Integration
-In the Rain article 1. Ask students what it means to compare and
April 7th
-Compare/
contrast (compare- similarities, contrastContrast worksheet differences).
2. Read In the Rain out loud to students.
Students will be
3. Model and Guided Practice: Compare and
able to read a story
contrast how animals in the first paragraph (birds,
to compare and
people, foxes, and butterflies) react in the rain.
contrast story
4. Have students work with previously assigned
elements (different
partners. Assign each set of partners an animal from
characters, settings
the article (deer, lizard, fish, ants, and leaches). Have
at different points
students reread the paragraph about that animal and
in a story).
write down on the animal reacts to rain.
5. Pair each set of partners with another pair that has
a different animal. Students will explain how their
After reading a
animal reacts to the rain. As a group they will
grade level text,
compare and contrast the animals. Have students
students will be
write this on their worksheet. If time allows have
able to summarize
students work with another pair.
what they have
Differentiation: Higher students will be paired with
read.
a lower student. Higher students can compare and
contrast all the animals if time allows.
-Houghton Mifflin 1. Review what it means to compare and contrast.
Anthology (Seal
2. Have students read the first half of Seal Surfer
April 8th
Surfer by Michael independently (pg. 48-55). Students will be close
Foreman) page 47 reading Seal Surfer. Since this is the first read, the
students will identify the setting, characters and
- Close Reading
main idea. Students will fill this in on their
worksheet
worksheet.
Differentiation: Early finishers can re-read Seal
-Students reading Surfer for their second read. They can start to
spiral notebooks.
analyze story structure and important main ideas.
I will have lower students read with me or near me
-Audio recording
in a small group so I can provide additional

Check for Understanding

ASSESSSMENT/
Criteria
Closure:
Have students share an animal
they compared/contrasted.
Have students explain to a
partner what it means to
compare and contrast.
Assessment:
Collect students worksheets to
review.
Observe students as they share
what it means to compare and
contrast.

Closure/ Assessment:
Have students share what they
read and what they wrote down
on their worksheet.
Observe students as they work
to ensure students are reading
and identifying key components
to the story.

April 9th

April
10th

of Seal Surfer

assistance.

-SMART board

1. Review what students read and identified

yesterday as they read.
2. Inform students that they will complete their
second read by listening to an audio recording of the
story. For the second read, the students will look
more closely at the text. Instruct students to follow
along and read while listening to the recording. As
they read students will look at the story structure and
will compare and contrast different topics. Review
what story structure is and how to compare and
contrast.
3. Play recording and stop at these places to
compare/ contrast:
- Pg. 48: Compare and contrast the boy and
grandpa. (Do this one as a class. Have students write
it down in their spiral. Write it on the SMART
board).
- Pg. 50: Compare and contrast the seal and the
boy
- Pg. 54: Compare and contrast the lessons the
seal learned and the lessons the boy learned.

Closure/ Assessment:
Review what students wrote
down for each compare and
contrast stopping point.

1. Review what it means to compare and contrast.

Review what it means to summarize. (Practice
summarizing as a group by summarizing the In the
rain article.
2. Have students read the second half of Seal Surfer
independently (pg. 56-63). Students will be close
reading Seal Surfer. Since this is the first read of the
second half, the students will identify the main idea,
important details and unknown words. Students will
fill this in on their worksheet. Students will then
summarize what they read.
Differentiation: Early finishers can re-read Seal
Surfer for their second read. They can start to
analyze story structure and important main ideas.
I will have lower students read with me or near me
in a small group so I can provide additional

Closure/ Assessment:
Have students share what they
read and what they wrote down
on their worksheet.

Ask students critical thinking

questions from page 55 to
assess student understanding.

Observe students as they work

to ensure students are reading
and identifying key components
to the story.

Reflection on Planning:
The Language Arts supervisor has stated that she wants teachers to use close reading skills while reading texts in class. The
teachers have not been given clear instructions on how to incorporate this into their curriculum but they are trying. The first
read requires the students to read the text independently and become familiar with the setting, characters and main ideas. The
second read is where the students look more closely at the text, looking at how the text is written, the text structure, unfamiliar
words, and anything else, which helps them to have a deeper understanding of the text. In most cases students will read the text
a third time and then respond to text dependent questions. Since the PSSAs are next week, we only have time to read each part
of the text twice. The story is really long so I decided to split it into two parts. Most of the students enjoy reading
independently but there are at least three who will need more encouragement to read or will need a reading buddy. The second
read is where I will focus on the skill for the week: comparing and contrasting. The students have previous knowledge on how
to compare and contrast but will be asked to do it at a third grade level. Overall, this lesson should go well. I have planned
various ways to read, groups to work with, and activities to complete.
Reflection on Instruction:
Next time I would give the students more direction on using Venn Diagrams. The students have used them before but needed a
refresher on them. I would give this instruction as the students are sitting on the carpet. Some of the students were confused
about where to put things on the Venn Diagram. I would also have the students pick 1 animal and have their partner pick
another animal. Then have the students compare and contrast those animals because the students did not have time to meet
with another partner group.
Standards:
E03.B-K.1.1.2: Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
E03.B-K.1.1.1: Answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the
answers.
E03.B-C.3.1.2: Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
E03.B-C.3.1.1: Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs to support specific points in a text
(e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).