Logan Sikkenga, Sarah Fazio, Angela Gonzalez, and Caty Lewis

I.

Learners:
A. Features of Learning:
1. Awareness of Print: Experimenters hesitate to participate in literacy activities
because they know that pretend reading and writing is not the same as
conventional reading and writing (89).
2. Discovery of Words: Experimenters recognize a new form of written language.
They also realize that readers read words and writers write words. The awareness
that words are composed of letters and words are separated by spaces, also arises
in the experimental stage of reading and writing (89).
3. Discovery of a Relationship between Sounds and Letters: Experimenters
discover that phonemes are related to spoken words. They begin to recognize that
the English language is an alphabetic writing system and that phonics is the
linking of letters and combinations of letters to spoken sound (90).
4. Ability to Focus on Certain Aspects of Conventional Reading and Writing:
Children in the experimentation stage often focus on the mechanics of reading and
writing, but theyre so attuned to deciphering words, that they cannot interpret the
meaning of sentences (90). They are not able to use orchestration to comprehend
the meaning of the text.
5. Fully Developed Concept of Story: Experimenters are developing a concept of
story. Often this includes the idea that a story contains a beginning, middle, and
end (377).
B.

Diverse Learners:

1a. Diverse Cultural Background: Hispanic

1b. 5 students are Hispanic.
1c. Culturally Responsive Instruction: Many children are exposed to ways of
learning in their homes and communities that are different from mainstream
(174). An example would be for the student to orally say his or her story before
writing it. In many cultures stories are told orally and passed down from
generation to generation.
1d. Additive Approaches: This is when the teacher builds upon the childs home
language and culture during classroom instruction. One example would be to have
each child take a picture of or bring in some type of environmental print, such a
logo, sign, or billboard, and explain what that text symbolizes or means to them.
Children from diverse backgrounds could bring in items that are written in their
home language and explain why that item is relevant to their own culture.
Students could even deliver their explanations in their home language, if the
teacher is willing to allow it (339-340).
1e. Multicultural Literature: This would be fiction and non-fiction literature
that includes characters relevant to all students including characters that represent
the underrepresented students. An example of such a text would be The Woman
Who Outshone the Sun by A. Martinez Cruz (169).
2a. English Language Learners (ELL)
2b. 5 students speak Spanish as their first language.
2c. ELL Interactive Read Aloud Procedure: This is a technique that teaches
vocabulary and comprehension by using longer and more complex picture books,

breaking the book into segments and reading to children over a period of time
(336). Example: Students will read Frog and Toad over a weeks period. As
teachers we will break the story into 4 segments and work with each segment and
its key words/phrases. We will look at one segment per day focusing on who
what and where questions and tier two words that engage students with the
information in the text. The end of the final day we will reread the entire text so
the students get repetition and become more familiar with the text.
2d. Shared Language: This is when teachers and students use particular
vocabulary words to communicate about reading and writing. By repeating these
key words and phrases in instructional routines, teachers ensure that activities and
concepts are made more accessible to students who are still learning English. One
example of this would be to teach children the concepts of plot, setting, and
characters, and frequently model the appropriate use and application of these
terms when referring to narratives in class (340).
2e. Using Cognates: Cognates are words in different languages that have similar
spellings, pronunciations and meanings to words in English (344). A few
examples from English and Spanish would be: secret/secreto, and
absorb/absorber, abuso/abuse, pair/par.
C. Grade Level: Our lesson will target a small group of first graders, where each group is
comprised of five or six children.
II.

Short Term Objective: The learner will demonstrate the format of an invitation.

III. Rationale:

A. It is important for the student to be able to describe the format of an invitation as a

strategy to recall the lesson on invitation writing. Students will benefit by learning to
write invitations because they will gain knowledge about another source of
environmental print while also learning how to communicate using writing. Once
they establish conventional reading and writing skills, which should be coming next
(at least in general terms), they'll effectively be able to use invitations to convey
specific information, which is something that this lesson will focus on to guide the
students. This lesson is orienting the students to a new type of text and how it is
organized and read. With this environmental text it automatically allows them to
increase their literacy skills by building upon prior knowledge and setting the
foundation for future learning.
B. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall
information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer
a question.
1. First Grade (using Kindergarten standard)
2. Writing
3. Research to Build and Present Knowledge
4. Students will use invitations as a guide and are expected to create their own
invitations.
IV. Materials:
1. White board and marker
2. Worksheets
3. Vocabulary word magnets
4. Video-Pinkies Singing Telegram

5. Colored Sharpies
6. Invitations to various events (wedding, quinceaeras, birthdays)
7. Two Fly Swatters
8. Tape
9. Two Chairs
10. Questions
V. Technology:
I will introduce a YouTube video titled Pinkies Singing Telegram. Here the students
will get a chance to watch and sing along with Pinkie about her invitation to her party.
VI. The Plan:
What the teacher/student will DO:
Sarah
Teacher hands out multiple examples of
invitations to each group
Students spend 2 to 3 minutes inspecting the
invitations.

What the teacher/student will say:

Teacher: I want you to spend a few minutes
looking at these cards I am passing out. Pass
them around at your table and try to see if
they have anything in common with each
other. Or, try to think if you have seen
anything like these before.
Teacher: What did you notice about the
papers I handed you?
Student: It was a card asking if I want to go to
a birthday party!
Teacher: Great observation! How did you
know that?
Student: Well, I looked and it had balloons
and a time on it. When Johnny had a birthday
party last month I got something just like it.
Teacher: Good thinking! Does anyone else
notice anything about the papers that they'd
like to share?

Student: Mine had a big picture on it!

Teacher writes "Invitation" on the board

Teacher: Oh really, what was the picture of?

Student: A boy and a girl smiling at each
other.
Teacher: Good observation, thanks for
sharing.

Teacher writes each of the students examples

on the board

Teacher: When ______(students name) said it

was a card asking if he/she wanted to go to a
birthday party he/she was right. All of these
cards that you have at your tables are called
invitations. An invitation is a way to ask
someone if they want to attend or come to an
event. ______'s invitation was for a birthday
party. What are some other events that the
invitations were asking you to attend?

Teacher writes each of the students examples

on the board

Student: A Wedding
Student: A Quincenera
Student: A graduation party
Teacher: Good, what are some other party's or
events that you've gotten an invitation for?
Student: A Halloween party
Student: A pool party

Teacher writes "What" in big letters before

the list of examples.

Teacher: Great examples! So, we can see it's

important that invitations say WHAT it is for.
It's important because we need to know what
we are being invited to. If you are going to a
pool party you would dress very differently
than if you were going to a wedding.
Teacher: What else might be important to put
on an invitation? If it helps you can look at
the ones at your table.

Teacher writes "When" under the "What" list.

Then writes "October 31, 2014 at 5 p.m" to
the right of it under the examples column.

Student: When the party is.

Teacher: Yes, we need to know WHEN the
event is going to take place. We do this by

writing the date and time of the event. So, if

we are having a Halloween party we might
put October 31, 2014 at 5 p.m
Teacher: What else might be important to put
on an invitation?
Teacher writes "Where" under the
corresponding column

Teacher writes the example the student gives

for WHERE the party is held.

Student: Where it is.

Teacher: Good! Yes, it's very important we
put WHERE the event is going to take place.
We need to know where to show up so we put
the address or location of the event. Where
should we have this Halloween party?
Student: Our school

Teacher points to "What," "When," and

"Where," as she reviews them with the
students.

Teacher writes, "Who," under corresponding

column and writes "Logan" under example
column.

Teacher: So if you want it at our school you

would put Lakewood Elementary, and maybe
even the address of our school.
Teacher: So far, we know that on an invitation
it is important to put WHAT the event is for,
WHEN it is happening, and WHERE it is
being held. Can you think of anything else we
might need to put on an invitation?
Student: Who the party is for
Teacher: Great! Yes, invitations need to say
WHO the event is being held for. If it's a
birthday party we need to know who's
birthday we're celebrating and if it's a
wedding we need to know who is getting
married. Ok, let's say that, Logan, this is your
Halloween party.
Teacher: Good job, these four pieces of
information, "What, When, Where and Who"
are very important to put on invitations. Were
there any more similarities you saw on the
invitations at your tables?
Student: Both of ours have the letters RSVP
on it
Teacher: That is a great observation! When an
invitation has RSVP on it, that means you

have to inform, or tell, the person who is

inviting you, if you can or can not attend the
event. If you are having a birthday party, why
do you think you would want people to
RSVP?
Student: To know if they are coming or not!
Teacher: Yeah, you would want to know who
is planning on attending so that you know
how many people are coming total. Why
might you want to know how many people
are coming to your Halloween party, or
birthday party?
Student: I don't know...

Teacher walks over to table groups and

directs them to the correct station.

Caty
Students will move from their previous center
to sit down at my table

Teacher: It is helpful to know how many

people are coming to your party so that you
prepare the right amount of food and have
enough room for all of your guests.
Teacher: Now we know more about
invitations we are going to break off into
groups and go from station to station. Now I
need you to listen carefully, this group go to
the first station over there. This group, you go
to the station over there. And this group, you
go to the station over there.

Caty

Teacher will pass out the worksheet and direct Teacher: Hi, everyone. Today weve been
talking a lot about writing invitations. Were
students attention to the chart located at the
going to complete a worksheet reviewing this
top of the page
concept, but before we do, lets remind
Teacher will provide a refresher of who, what, ourselves what ideas must be included in an
where, and when using the chart mentioned
invitation. If you look at the top of your
above in addition to reviewing R.S.V.P
worksheet, youll notice that Ive included a
chart with these ideas, in case you get stuck
Students and teacher will engage in chorale
and need a hint. Who can tell me one thing
reading to make clear the instructions of the
that we must include in our invitation?

worksheet
Students will complete the worksheet

Student 1: a phone number, like 330-6189615!

Time permitting, teacher and students will

check over the worksheet together and the
teacher will field any remaining questions

Student 2: This tells you how to call the

person and tell them that youre coming to the
party.

* I will not be using any technology in this

center, but I will be incorporating the ELL
strategy of shared language because Ill be
reinforcing the concepts of who, what, where,
when, and RSVP, which are all a part of
invitation writing. This strategy will come
into play during the second and third actions
listed above. Im also hoping that through
repetition, seeing as though each center will
focus on the Ws in some way, these
concepts will solidify themselves more
substantially in the minds of our diverse
learners. By using chorale reading, I also
hope to help students successfully navigate
through the directions and text to determine
which ideas are most important to the task at
hand.

Student 1: And usually its at the end of the

invitation!

Logan 3 mins.

Teacher: Absolutely! Thats important!

Teacher: Very good! Youre both correct!

Does anyone remember what this idea is
called? The hint for this question is located at
the bottom of your worksheet.
Student 3: An R.S.V.P?
Teacher: Yes, thats right! An R.S.V.P. means
please respond and tells us how we can
contact the host/ess of the event, telling him
or her whether we can and cannot come.
Does anyone remember any other things we
must put into our invitation?
Student 4: The who part! Who the party or
event is for!

Game One
What the teacher / student will DO:
Teacher hands out a blank piece of paper to
each student. Also, hands out some type of
writing / coloring tool to each group of tables.
Students will spend some time creating their
own invitations.

Logan
Game One
What the teacher / student will SAY:

Teacher: I want us to spend some time

creating our own invitations. You have some
crayons, markers or colored pencils to create
your invitation. Your invitation can be any

type of invitation use your imagination and

have fun.

Teacher: What do we have to remember to

put on our invitations?

Student: To have a time of the event.

Teacher: Great, what else needs to be on our

invitations?

Student: We need to know who the event is

for.
Game Two
Teacher splits the students into two groups
and gives the students the rules of the game as
well as an example of the game.
Teacher: Correct, how did you know this?
Students will take turns in this activity of
coming up and answering the question being
asked.

Student: Well, I remember us talking about

the four Ws you need for the invitation and
you need a who for the invitation.

Teacher: That is great, can anyone else tell

me the other two Ws we need for the
invitation?

Student: We need to have a destination of

where its being held and we need to know
what the occasion is for.

Teacher: Great job, keep up the great work

and in a few minutes we will have a few of
you share about your invitations if your will
Teacher asks one of the questions for the
students to answer.

too.

Student will get out of chair hit the paper on

the board and answer the question.
Students will get up and share their invitation.
Angela 3 mins.

Teacher: Alright its time to be done, is there

Matching Game

anyone who would like to share their

Teacher will give directions for the Matching

invitation?

game.
Student: Ill show the class what I have
Teacher will remind students what the

created! Tells the class what they made.

vocabulary words are and their definitions

(briefly).

Game Two

Students will take a game set and place them

Teacher: One student from each team come to

face down.

the front of the class and sit in these chairs.

Once I start reading off the question and you

Student will flip cards one at a time. If cards

think you know the answer to the question

match the student who flipped the cards keeps

you may get up and hit the fly swatter on the

them and wins a point.

piece of paper you think is correct. Once one

of you two answer the question correct the

The strategy I will be using is shared

next ones out of each group will come up and

language where the vocabulary is constantly

sit in the chairs waiting for the next question.

reviewed through the game.

While the people in the front of the class are

answering the question the rest of you will be
paying attention and being quite as they
answer the question. Remember this game is
relating to our recent activities of learning
how an invitation works / set up. Do any of
you have any questions about the activity?

Student: yes

Teacher: Alright what is it?

Student: Can our team help the student who is

in the chair our do we have to be quiet and let
them do it on their own?

Teacher: Good question, if youre not the one

in the chair you need to keep your mouth

quite so the people in the front can answer the

questions.

Teacher: Are we good to start?

Student: yes

Teacher: On December 25 we have a

celebration.
Student: Gets up, hits the board with the fly
swatter on WHEN and says the answer of
when.

Teacher: Correct, next two come on up.

Angela

Teacher: Ok friends I am going to give you

some directions please have your eyes on me
and ears open.

REMEMBER:
WHAT: Gives the event (birthday party, baby
shower etc...)
WHEN: Date and Time
WHERE: Location
WHO: Who the event is for

This chart will be in front of you to help you

while you play.

Student 1: What do we have to do?

Teacher: As a class we just created an

invitation. What does an invitation have to
have?

Student 2: It has to have the where the party

is going to be right?

Teacher: Good. What else do we need to have

in an invitation?

Student 3: Who. We need to have who the

party is for.

Teacher: Great! Now in partners I want you to

match your vocabulary words with examples.

VII. Assessment:
By having centers and a whole group game at the end of the lesson, I will
be able to see if the students have fully grasped the format of an invitation. I
provide several opportunities for the students to work on their new vocabulary by
having them create their own invitations, a matching game, a worksheet, a game
that involves slapping the vocabulary word on the wall and finally by introducing
them to song with invitation elements. Centers and whole group activities allow
for the student to recall information given in the lesson about invitation writing.
.