Hannah Webb

09/11/16

Teaching Reading: Mini Lesson Format (Calkins, 2001)

Targeted Literacy Strategy or Skill: Learning to infer feelings and inferring the meaning of unfamiliar
words
Grade level: 1st Grade
Objective: The student will be able to summarize a story, infer others feelings, and infer the tone of a
story. Will also increase vocabulary and be able to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Common Core State Standard/ PASS Standard:
Summary: Students will expand academic, domain-appropriate, grade-level vocabulary through reading,
word study, and class discussion.
Reading: 1.4.R.1 Students will acquire new academic, content-specific, grade-level vocabulary, relate new
words to prior knowledge, and apply vocabulary in new situations.
Reading: 1.4.R.3 Students will use context clues to determine the meaning of words with guidance and
support.
Prior knowledge: (What students already know) Students have an understanding of how to summarize
a story and how to spot unfamiliar vocabulary words within a text. Students also have practiced discussing
texts in small/large groups and giving oral summaries.
Observations/Rationale: (Before Lesson) What did you notice in your students work that let you
know this lesson was necessary? (This will be an approximation this semester.) Students have practiced
choosing and picking out words that they find unfamiliar/important and summarizing in small/large
groups; however, they have been generalizing summaries instead of using context clues and inferring
information.
Materials Needed
Texts
The Way I Feel by Jahan Cain (Teacher copy to read to the class)
Sophie Gets Angry Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang
Wilma Jean The Worry Machine by Julia Cook
Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make my Day by Jamie Lee Curtis
Zach Gets Frustrated by William Mulcany
The Grouchy Lady Bug by Eric Carle
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
Markers
Big Notepad Paper
Vocabulary Notebooks (Student notebooks)
Lesson from (Strategies That Work pg. 138)
Mentor Text: The Way I Feel by Jahan Cain and each table will use a book as their text.
Student Groups (whole/small group/partners): Whole group first, then small table groups after.

Mini Lesson Format:

Connect (AKA~ Anticipatory Set, Engagement/Pre-reading):
: Earlier this week, on Monday, we read a story called Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed
Emberley and Anne Miranda during free reading time, and we talked about the different emotions
portrayed, or shown, throughout that story. We also found some vocabulary words that we thought
stood out and were important, then we defined those words. However, I noticed that many of you
were just guessing what those words meant rather than using context clues and inferring the
information to state the definition.

Teach (Model/Explain): Today we are going to read one more story aloud as a class and quickly
summarize it. After this, we are going to find unfamiliar words again and write them down on one
side of a two-column chart that I have drawn. On the other side of the chart we are going to come
up with a definition by using context clues and inferring information from the story.
By doing this, it will help the students use context clues and infer some of the feelings/emotions
that are portrayed throughout the stories they are reading. By finding unfamiliar words, it will help
them expand their vocabulary and learn how to use context clues and infer information from a
story. By demonstrating some of the emotions that have been portrayed, such as frustrated, it
will help them relate these emotions to their everyday lives.
Begins reading The Way I Feel aloud to the class, but also stops every so often as Im reading to
ask questions, such as, What do you feel is happening on this page? or Why do you think the
author put this detail into the story? and How do you think this character is feeling? Once we
are finished, I will have them discuss with their table members what they think this story is about.

Active Engagement (AKA~ Check for Understanding: students try it out, teacher observes):
Now that were done reading our class book, I am going to give each table a different book and
let you guys read it together and then try to come up with some unfamiliar words from your story
and write them down on your charts. When you all are finished with that we are going to talk
about it all as a class, and each table is going to demonstrate some of the emotions, or unfamiliar
words, described in your stories in front of the class, and then we will add some of these words to
our vocabulary notebooks when were all done.
While this is going on I will be walking around from table to table listening to their discussions
while asking questions and possibly suggesting words that I feel are important for them to
recognize. I will also be watching to see what they write for their summaries on their giant notepad
paper. I will give them twenty minutes to complete this activity, then each group will demonstrate
one feeling off of their list of words that they found interesting from the story.
Once they have all shared and demonstrated the feeling that they felt important, I will have them
write the vocabulary terms in their notebooks and we will continue to use those throughout the
week. After this is done, we will move on to another activity.

Link (AKA~ Closing the Lesson [with accountability for the skill/process])
When reading texts, it is important to imply context clues and to think about important parts of the
story. By demonstrating and going over what they feel is important, the students are more likely to

remember what happened in the story and what they learned afterwards. The more you read and
the more you learn to recognize and define unfamiliar words, the easier inferring information and
using context clues will be.