Lesson Plan

If/Then: Repetitious Phrases

1. Objectives
At this point in the unit, the students have learned repetitious words and why writers would use
repetitious words in their writing. As well, they have been introduced to Repetitious phrases and how
the use of such phrases can embellish meaning in a story. This lesson will assist students in recognizing
repetitious phrases in other texts by reading/reciting two different stories out loud and having the
students clap when they recognize the repetitious phrase. From hearing what repetitive phrases sound
like, the students will then be able to begin applying the craft of Repetitious Phrases into their own
sentences through partner and individual work. First in partners, they will develop a 6-sentence
sequence using a well-known slogan or phrase with pattern sentence-sentence-phrase sentencesentence-phrase. From this exercise and the sharing of the sentence sequences, students will be more
prepared to use repetitious phrases on their own prior to them creating a repetitious-sentence sequence
using their own, made up repetitious phrase under the same type of activity. This will allow the students
to apply the craft of repetitious phrases into their own writing in preparation for their own songs they
will create at the end of the unit.
2. Target Grade
5th Grade Students
1. Background
They have learned what craft is and a brief overview on the many different kinds of craft. The students
have already learned specifically about Repeating Words in sentences and why a writer might use
Repeating words in their writing. This lesson puts us about 25% into the unit as this unit covers
different crafts ways of writing that will assist them in the songs they will write at the end of the unit.
Teacher will begin the lesson by talking about nursery rhymes and the students favorite nursery
rhymes. Teacher will then sing Row, Row, Row your boat and stop at the repeated words and have the
students fill in the blanks of the repeating words. The teacher will then sing Old McDonald Had a Farm
and then pause at the E-I-E-I-O and the students will fill in the blanks. From there, the class will talk
about Repetitious phrases and what difference a repetitious phrase can make in a story.
Example- What difference would it make in the nursery rhyme, Old McDonald Had
a Farm if the phrase E-I-E-I-O was not included in the song?
Example- In the book The Three Little Pigs what effect would it have if the Wolf
didnt repeat And Ill huff and Ill puff and Ill blow your house in?
1. Assignment and Materials Needed
Have students listen to teacher read aloud Don't Wake Up Mama by Eileen Christelow
and clap whenever they hear the repeating phrase
Needed- Don't Wake Up Mama by Eileen Christelow
As a class, have students make a list of other commonly used phrases or slogans that they
hear a lot and write the list on the board
Needed- Whiteboard, whiteboard marker
Examples- Theyre magically delicious, Just do it, Trix are for kids, Im Lovin it,
No more monkeys jumping on the bed, etc
With a partner, have them choose one of the phrases and create 6 sentences where they can

use their repeating phrase at least twice within their 6 sentences. Have each partnership
share their sentences with the class.
Needed- paper, pencil
Example- The cupcakes looked amazing. The smell was just divine. Theyre
magically delicious. I took off the wrapper. I ate it up real quick. Theyre magically
delicious.
Have students thinking of their own repeating phrase and come up with 4 sentences where
they can use their repeating phrase twice within their 4 sentences.
Needed- paper, pencil
Standing up on the wall, stood a daring young man whose goal was to flip onto the
ground. Before he did, he recalled his mother saying, Dont do anything silly!
Disregarding the warning, he jumped anyway and hurt his foot when he landed.
Hell never forget that smart piece of advice, Dont do anything silly!
Have students turn in partner and individual assignments to the teacher.
Students need to understand the connection between the sentence and the Repetitious
Phrase. The repetitious phrase needs to support or help magnify what the sentence is talking
about.
5. Explanation
As the students are completing their Repetitious Phrase sentence structures, they will not only develop
the skill to complete the songwriting assignment at the end of the Unit, they will be able to
continuously apply what they are learning in order for their long term memory to remember the
material covered. The use and knowledge of the repetitious phrases and rhythm within writing will
assist students in improving their reading comprehension and flow. Students will be able to better
understand the meaning and symbolism in what they are reading and writing because they will have
analyzed why writers have included such Writers craft in the first place. The use of repetitious phrases
also provides real world application as they learn that they listen to repetitious phrases all the time
through music and songs on the radio. And not just through words, but they will be able to recognize
repetition in instrumental music, plot developments, in advertisements, and other real-world
situations. Their learning and comprehension of Repetitious Phrases will allow the students to better
understand concepts such as symbolism and other future learned concepts as we build upon them in
class.