PSU Student: Miranda Ramsey

Journey to the Moon Lesson Plan

Learner and Environmental Factors *

Grade Level: 3rd grade
Content Area: Language Arts (Reading)

State or Local Standards: *

Strand: Reading Informational Text

Box Sub Heading: Key Ideas and Details
Standard: RI.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring
explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Standard: RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how
they support the main idea.

Strand: Speaking and Listening

Box Sub Heading: Comprehension and Collaboration
Standard: SL.3.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Strand: Writing
Box Sub Heading: Text Types and Purposes.
Standard:W.3.2.D Provide a concluding statement or section.

Lesson Performance Objective: *

Students will review and know the selection vocabulary at 100% accuracy.
Students will ask and answer questions from the text Journey to the Moon at 100% accuracy.
Students will read a nonfiction text about the Journey to the Moon and complete their KWL chart
by writing at least three things in the learned section.

Materials: *
Timer
24 Visualizing worksheet
24 KWL chart
24 Imagine It Reading Books
1 Imagine it Reading Teacher Edition
Smartboard with focus question
24 Pencils
1 vocabulary review paper
 Vocabulary: (Review)
1. Astronaut
2. Commander
3. Gigantic
4. Orbit
5. Gravity
6. Pressure

Student Grouping(s) (individual and group)

When needed: To grab the students attention the teacher will say eyes on me and the students
will clap with eyes on the teacher and voices shut off.
THE PLAN
Anticipatory Set: *
Teacher says, Everyone close your eyes, we are about to take a journey to the moon! Put on
your spacesuit, put on your helmet, we are getting into the spaceship, and now we are strapped
in and ready for take off.
Questions to ask students while their eyes are closed, what do you see?, how does it look?,
how are you feeling I want you to really visualize what you are seeing on your journey to the
moon.
Now open eyes, I want you to put everything you just visualized on this paper. You are going to
draw a picture of what you saw and below you are going to describe your picture.
Remember 3rd graders, we write in complete sentences which means using a capital letter and
punctuation at the end of the sentence.
Give students 5-10 minutes to finish their drawing and writing and turn it into their pockets. (start
timer)
Have students get their reading books from their cubby when finished and sit back down at their
desks.

Instruction: *
Set a purpose. Today, we are going to review our vocabulary words and read half of our story
as well as finish our KWL chart. We will be filling in the learned section of our chart from what
we learn about going to the moon. We will have a focus question on the board to help guide our
thinking as we read our story today. We will also be answering questions as we read our story
today to ensure we understand what is happening.

We will review our vocabulary words before we start our reading, the teacher will call out a
definition and the students will have to see which vocabulary word it is. The teacher will call on
students who are sitting down quietly and focusing. After each vocabulary word, I will have
students put their thumbs up if they agree or thumbs down if they disagree.
Vocabulary words:
astronaut- a person who is trained to pilot or be a part of a spacecraft.
commander - the captain leading a ship or voyage
gigantic- very big
orbit- to circle around a heavenly body, such as Earth or the moon
gravity- the force pulling things towards the center of a body in space, such as Earth or the
moon
 pressure- weight of one thing pushing against another
Now since we know our vocabulary words, we are going to transition to the front area. We are
going to read our story Journey to the Moon. Have students who are quiet and focused go to
the front area.
Our focus question as we read is How would being on the moon help you know more
about it? Have students think about this question as we are reading the story. The question
will be displayed on the smartboard so they can see it at any moment during the reading.
We will start reading the story and the teacher will call on students to read during this time. We
will start on page 79. The first student will read page 80 and the teacher will ask a question
about that page What do you think Neil Armstrong saw or how do you think he felt as he
first stepped on the moon? The students will have the chance to answer this question. We
will have a short discussion about the students answers to this question.
The next student will start reading on page 81. The teacher will ask a question to check for
understanding, What two parts made up Apollo 11? The students will have the chance to
answer this question. We will have a short discussion about the students answers to this
question.
The next student will start reading on page 82 the first paragraph. The teacher will ask a
question to check for understanding, Why do you think one man orbited the moon while
the other two landed on the moon? The students will have the chance to answer this
question. We will have a short discussion about the students answers to this question.
The next student will read the second paragraph on page 82. The teacher will ask a question to
check for understanding and visualizing, What were you guys visualizing as we read at
paragraph? Think about what Neil Armstrong was doing and seeing. The students will
have the chance to answer this question. We will have a short discussion about the students
answers to this question.
The next student will read page 83. The teacher will ask a question to check for understanding
and visualizing, How is Earth and the moon different from what we just read? The
students will have the chance to answer this question. We will have a short discussion about the
students answers to this question.
The next student will read page 84. The teacher will ask a question to check for understanding
and visualizing, Why do they need to wear space suits? The students will have the chance
to answer this question. We will have a short discussion about the students answers to this
question.
The next student will read page 85. The teacher will ask a question to check for understanding
and visualizing, What type of work did the two astronauts do on the moon? The students
will have the chance to answer this question. We will have a short discussion about the
students answers to this question.
We will stop on page 85 but before the students head back to their seats we will look back at
our focus question ---We will discuss as a class about our focus question and students will have
the chance to answer the focus question
The students will head back to their seats and put their reading books away in their cubby.

Check for Understanding: *

Clarification
The teacher will be checking for understanding as we are reading the story as a class. The
different questions will help provide feedback to see if the students are understanding what the
 story is about. The focus question pulls it all together to ensure we are ready to move on to the
next part of the unit.
Application/Guided Practice/Independent Practice: *
The teacher will pass out the students KWL chart and each student will fill out the
learned section by providing three facts from the text. The students will have about five
minutes to complete this section. Each student will have to verbally say one thing they learned
to the class from their KWL chart. This is a way to assess if students have met the objectives
for this lesson.

Closure: *
Bring the lesson to closure.
Today, we learned all about the journey to the moon. We visualized what it was like and
learned new facts we did not know before. Reading and visualizing like we did today will help
you in next week's lesson. Your ticket to go to lunch is to say one thing you learned about
traveling to the moon. The teacher is going to call on the people who are quiet and focused to
go first. (The students will say one thing they learned then put their paper in their pocket and
line up for lunch).
Assessment/Evaluation:
The teacher will assess by seeing if students understand the vocabulary by observing and
seeing if each student agrees by showing thumbs up.
The teacher will ask questions during the reading which will be evidence to allow me to see if
the students are comprehending the text.
The KWL chart will be an assessment that will measure if the students have mastered the
objective being taught.