Instructor: Victoria Rivera

Lesson Title: Writing a book report

Curriculum Area: Writing

Grade Level: 4-5

Date: October 5, 2015
Estimated Time: 90 minutes- 3 days

Standards Connection:
AL 2nd grade ELA standard: 27.) Participate in shared research and writing projects.
IEP Goals
Student A will write narratives (also working on opinion and informational pieces) in
which he will recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, including some
details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order and provide
some sense of closure.
Student T will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing, speaking, using capitalization, and punctuation with support
from a member of the instructional support team or the classroom teacher for attention
issues at level 3-4 on a teacher rubric on 4 out of 5 writing pieces.
Student J will demonstrate a command of the conventions of standard English grammar
and usage when writing to increase his writing skills within the complexity band of 2-3rd
grade with support in writing from an adult during small group instruction using writing
interventions and focusing on grade level topics to increase understanding and
comprehension as well scoring 3 out of 4 on a correlating writing rubric during progress
monitoring.
Learning Objective:
Students will be able to identify the characters, setting, and plot of a story with 100%
accuracy.
Kid Friendly Objective:
Today we are going to read a story and after we finish reading it, we will write a book report
that includes the characters, the setting, the plot and your thoughts about the book.
Evaluation of Learning Objective:
The students will be given a checklist while writing their book report to ensure that they have
included all the necessary components. The teacher will use the same checklist when
assessing the students to ensure that all necessary components are included.
Engagement:
Lets get started with todays lesson. While I am teaching, I would like for you all to sit up in
your seat and keep your eyes and ears on me. I know that I am not Ms. Cranford but you still
need to show me the same amount of respect that you show her when she teaches. Before
we begin todays lesson, I would like for you all to think about where your families are from.
For example, my mom is British and Irish and my dad is Puerto Rican! So that would mean
that I am Irish, British, and Puerto Rican. Does anybody have any idea where they are from or

what their background is? The teacher will give time for students to respond and discuss what
their background is. Awesome job, you guys. I loved hearing about what your different
backgrounds were. This is going to tie into our lesson for the day! The teacher will then move
into the teaching portion of the lesson.
Design for Learning:
I.

Teaching: We come from a very diverse nation. There are multiple races and cultures
present in our country! This month is Hispanic Heritage Month. Does anybody know
anything about Hispanic Heritage Month? The teacher will give time for student
response. I am going to share a little bit about what Hispanic Heritage Month is and
how it impacts our country. Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15October 15. This month is supposed to raise awareness of the Hispanic culture. The
Hispanic culture has had an extreme influence on our country through their family,
hard work, and service. There are 35 million Hispanics that currently live in the
United States, which makes them the largest minority represented in our country.
Think back to earlier and the different backgrounds that we all come from. It is
important to remember that even though we are all different and come from
different backgrounds we need to show respect and love for others around us. The
Hispanic culture is going to tie into the book that we are going to read as a group!
We are going to read a book titled Abuela by Arthur Dorros. Can anybody tell me
what Abuela means in English? The teacher will allow time for response. Awesome
job! Abuela means grandmother. What are some of the words that you call your
grandmother? The teacher will allow time for sharing. Everybody seems to call their
grandmother something different. I actually call my grandmother Abuela because
she is Hispanic and lives in Puerto Rico. Lets take a look at some of the pictures in
the book and try and figure out what we think the book is going to be about. The
teacher will complete a picture walk of the book with students and ask them
predictive type questions before reading begins. Ok, lets begin reading! I want you
guys to pay extra close attention to what we are reading because we are going to
complete an activity later that goes along with the book. I am going to give you all
your own copy of the book. This is your copy to keep so please feel free to write your
thoughts in the margins or the sides of the pages so you can refer back to what you
thought or what happened. The teacher will give each student their own copy of the
book. The teacher will begin reading the book. While reading, she will ask questions
about what the setting of the story is, who the characters are, and whats happening
throughout the book. After finishing the book, we will discuss our thoughts about the
book. Ok, what did everyone think about the book? Did you enjoy reading it or did
you not enjoy reading it? The teacher will allow time for student response. I enjoyed
hearing your differing thoughts about the book! Now that we have read the book
and become familiar with the content, we are going to talk about what a book report
is. Has anybody ever written a book report for one of their classes? The teacher will
allow students to raise their hand and discuss. A book report is written after you
have completed a book. A book report is a way to show how much you know about
the book. In a book report, you should include: the plot of the book, the setting, the

II.

III.

IV.

characters, and whether you enjoyed the book or not. Today, we are going to be
writing our very own book report about Abuela!
Opportunity for Practice: Before we begin, we are going to fill out a graphic
organizer about the different components about the book that we will need to
include in our book report. The teacher will then hand out the graphic organizer.
Lets start by writing your name and the date at the top of your paper. The teacher
will allow time for students to write their name and the date. Can anybody tell me
who the main characters were in the story. If you need to look back in the story, feel
free to do so! The teacher will allow time for student response. As the students
respond, the teacher will write their responses on the white board behind her for the
students to copy. I would like for you all to write your response on your graphic
organizer. The teacher will do this for each component of the graphic organizer until
it is all filled out.
Assessment: Now that we have filled out our graphic organizer, lets start writing our
book reports. I have provided you with paper to write your book report on and a
sentence starter paper. You can use these phrases to start each of your sentences if
you wish, these are only suggestions, feel free to come up with your own if you wish.
You will need to include the characters, the setting, the plot, and your thoughts
about the book. I will give you a checklist so that you can check off each component
of your book report. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. The
teacher will then pass out the writing paper and the sentence starter sheet. The
teacher will provide the students with assistance and task redirection when needed.
The teacher will use the same checklist to assess their work.
Closure: When you have finished your book report. I would like you all to write your
name on the cover page I will give you and draw your favorite scene from the book!
I will provide you with color pencils to complete this activity. If you do not get to
coloring, that is ok, you are not being graded on if you colored your cover page or
not. The teacher will hand out colored pencils to students that have completed their
book report.

Differentiation Strategies:
Accommodations: The teacher will use a second grade standard for these students. She will
provide the students with small group instruction, positive reinforcement, and the use of a
graphic organizer during the lesson. She will provide students with extra large lined paper
and will mark the bottom line with a highlighter when needed.
Materials and Resources:

Colored Pencils
Graphic organizer
Sentence starter worksheet
Abuela by Arthur Dorros
Pencils
Whiteboard
Expo markers

Highlighter
Copies of book for each student.
Paper for book report
Checklist for assessment

Reflection:
I believe that this lesson went well. I had a few issues with behavior when working with
this group, but quickly separated the students that were distracting one another. My teacher
suggested that I complete a writing lesson because I had never taught writing before to
students. For my first writing lesson I am not sure it could have gone any better. The students
were engaged with the lesson and enjoyed having their own copy of the book that they could
take home with them. Including the aspects about Hispanic heritage month was a bit difficult
for them to follow and understand. Perhaps if I teach this lesson again in the future I simplify
the information for the students and provide information that is more relatable to them. I
think that teaching about how different we all are is something that these kids can
understand and live on a day-to-day basis in their classes. Many of these students are
different from one another and they need to understand that even though others may be
different from them, they still must be shown the same respect and love that they would like
to be given. I found that giving the students rewards for finishing their work was a huge
incentive for them to work hard during the lesson and to behave. My cooperating teacher
enjoyed my lesson, thought that I changed the lesson for each student, and treated all
students equally. This is one of my major goals when teaching a lesson. I want to make sure
that every student has a chance to answer and feels that they are capable of answering and
learning. Overall, I think that this lesson went well and that the students accomplished the
learning objective.

Reporter: __________________________

Date: _______________

Title: ___________________________________

Characters:

__________________________
_
_
_
_

Plot:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
____________
Your thoughts about the book:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
____________

__________________________
__________________________
______________________Setti
ng:

Sentence Starters
This story takes place in
________________________________

The Characters in this story are_______________ and

___________________

In this story,
_________________________________________

I liked this book because ___________________

I did not like this book

because_____________________

Book Report Checklist:

Name:___________________________
The book report includes the two main
characters.

The book report includes the plot.

The book report includes the setting.

The book report includes thoughts about the

book.

My Book
Report

By: