Melissa Axell

UTE
3/30/08
Unit: Animal Habitats
Language Arts
3rd Grade

Considering the Content of the Learners:

This unit is basically a literature-based unit with a focus on the theme of
“Animal Habitats.” It will consist of four major parts taught during the morning time
referred to as a literature block. From 9:15 am- 11:15 am I will teach language arts
consisting of shared reading, writing workshop, working with words, and finally
writer’s workshop. In these four chunks, the skills and concepts being taught will be
linked up with the theme of Animal Habitats. I will use Houghton Mifflin curriculum,
and modify/adapt my lessons using this curriculum as a guide. The big ideas in this
unit that are connected to the shared reading time are comprehension, comparing
and contrasting, fact vs. opinion, vocabulary, questioning, and summarizing. The
big ideas working on during working with words are vowel + r sound in hair, base
words and their suffixes or endings. The verb be and how it is used in the past and
present. Furthermore we will review words that have changing forms when adding
endings, or making them plural, for example baby to babies. Drop the “y” change it
to an “I,” as well as doubling the consonant when adding endings like grin turns into
grinning. And finally, during writing workshop, these concepts and big ideas will be
embedded into their workshops. There will be working with words worksheets that
enforce what was taught the week before, as well as reading comprehension that
goes hand in hand with the theme and shared reading selection I read the previous
week. And lastly, the writer’s workshop time will be spent listening to different
types of poems I read from books I choose, and then mainly working on the Haiku. I
will introduce this type of poem, and the students will get a chance to make their
own, and learn poetic elements and characteristics of poetry and haiku’s.

The content in this unit is important for students to learn because it touches upon
animals and how they function in our world. Habitat is a great word for students to
know and learn about. All the skills in this unit are very important skills to learn and
practice. For example, summarizing and listening are skills being practiced
throughout my unit, as well as identifying what the main idea from a story they
listen to as well as read. These are reading comprehension skills that are very
important to use and practice because this is what makes good readers and writers.
Not only in language arts will they be using these skills but in all other subjects as
well. It is a great interdisciplinary skill. Vocabulary that is linked to the theme
selections I read is also important for the students to learn because they help them
gain knowledge on ideas related to animals and their habitats. The word working
time is also important because it is developing their spelling and words skills that
will overall help them be better readers and writers, and speakers. The words
practiced as well as sentences they listen to are connected to sentences found in
the theme selections I have read. And finally the poetry concepts being taught are
also important for students to learn because it develops their skills as writers as well
giving them an opportunity to see other forms of writing, and how poetic elements
can improve their writing, as well as using higher order thinking that isn’t so literal
based and more abstract.
My students already have some existing schema on animals and how they do
come from different parts of the world, and have different habitats based on their
needs. They may not know the word habitat, but they will know for example, that a
fish lives in the ocean, and a bear lives in the forest. They also have had practice
on how to listen to a selection and formulate after listening to a piece what would
be the main idea rather than just a detail from the story. They already know some
vocabulary that is linked to animals and their habitats. They have had some
practice in questioning, and fact and opinion. These skills have been worked on in
past units that my CT has taught. Same goes for their understanding of some
spelling/word working skills . Some of the lessons I will teach during working with
words will be a review for them. For example base words and their endings will be a
review, as well as writing complete sentences. Furthermore, some will have had
some work with how words change when they add endings and become plural. The
drop the y change to an I lesson is a review for them. Their spelling skills will vary,
but for the most part, the format of how I will do my word working lessons will be
familiar to them. They will understand how to make a chart with a base word in one
column, and endings in the next. They are familiar with writing down words and
creating their own sentences with the spelling words I give them. And finally
correcting or revising sentences that have mistakes(proofreading). As for poetry,
they will have heard of poetry seeing that they have already been doing a poetry
workshop bucket, yet they will not know what a Haiku is. They will be somewhat
familiar with poetic characteristics as far as poems are shorter, and rhyme.

As far as what I want them to learn is all of the above. I want them to become
stronger and better readers and listeners. I want them to be able to become much
stronger at identifying the main idea of a story, writing in complete sentences, and
answering questions completely as well. I want them to have a strong sense of
what habitat means, and can describe in their own words what an animal habitat is.
I want them to know how to write a Haiku, and understand the structure of it. They
know it is five syllables, by 7 syllables, by 5 syllables. I want them to become even
stronger at developing strong verbs in their writing as an outcome of writing
Haiku’s, seeing that there are limited words to it. I want them to be exposed more
to poetry, and the characteristics of poems(less rigid, and more free). I want them
to continue to use the verb be the correct way in their speaking, and their writing.
How to identify the past and present with the verb be as an indicator, as well as
writing good complete sentences, always a capital in the beginning, and a period in
the end. Spelling words are always a work in progress, but as far as spelling goes, I
want them to learn how to hear the different sounds in a word and be able to better
decode what the spelling pattern may be.

The context of the unit is animal habitats, and how it fits in with the literature block
my CT has set up.
Articulating Objectives:
Students will in context, determine the meaning of words and phrases including
synonyms, multiple meaning words, content vocabulary, and literary terms using
strategies and resources including context clues, concept mapping and the
dictionary {R.WS.03.08}.
Students will be able to self-monitor comprehension when reading or listening to
texts by automatically applying strategies used by readers to increase
comprehension including; predicting, constructing mental images, visually
representing ideas in text, questioning, rereading or listening again if uncertain
about meaning, inferring and summarizing.{R.MT.03.01}

Students will write poetry based on reading a wide variety of grade-appropriate

poetry, and be able to recognize the characteristics of poetry{W.GN.03.02}

Students will combine skills to reveal strengthening literacy (e.g., viewing then
analyzing orally, listening then summarizing orally. {L.RP.03.04}

Students will respond to and retell what a speaker said, paraphrasing and explaining
the main idea, and then extend their response by connecting and relating it to
personal experiences. {L.RP.03.05}.

Students will use structural, syntactic, and semantic cues including letter-sound,
rimes, base words, suffixes to automatically read frequently encountered words,
decode unknown words, and decide meanings including multiple meaning words.
{R.WS.03.02}.

Summative Assessment:
-write a poem about an animal they choose(after learning about poetry-apply the
skills into this final piece). Focus is on a certain type of poetry, the Haiku.
-Workshop folders will help to show their understanding in the concepts I am trying
to teach.
-Theme tests given afterwards that highlight some comprehension skills they were
working on. For example a fact and opinion test, compare and contrast test, and
grammar/spelling test.