James Madison University

Elementary Education Program

Anna Kocka
Mrs. Owens
Waterman Elementary School
March, 2015

A. ACTING FOR LITERACY

B. 4TH GRADE LITERACY CLASS, WATERMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
UNDERSTAND- what are the
broad generalizations the
students should begin to
develop?
Students will understand the
use of supporting details and
textual main ideas.

KNOW- what are the facts,

rules, specific data the
students will gain through the
lesson?
Students will know how to
find supporting details in order
to draw conclusions.

DO- what are the specific

thinking behaviors students
will be able to do through this
lesson?
Students will identify the main
idea of a text and draw
conclusions with the use of
supporting details.

D. ASSESSING LEARNINGEach student will be able to identify the main idea of a text and find the supporting details of
their conclusions on an exit ticket.
E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
4.5 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fictional texts, narrative
nonfiction texts, and poetry.
c) Identify the main idea.
d) Summarize supporting details.
e) Identify the problem and solution.
h) Draw conclusions/make inferences about text.
j) Identify cause and effect relationships.
Reporting Category: Demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts
Standards of Learning:
4.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts.

d) Identify the main idea.

e) Summarize supporting details.
f) Draw conclusions and make simple inferences using textual information as
support.
g) Distinguish between cause and effect.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Exit tickets
Scenarios
G. PROCEDURE
Together, have the students discuss the following text:
As his mother honked the horn outside, Tom ran down the stairs, buttoning his shirt.
What conclusions can we draw from the sentence?
Late
School day
On his way somewhere
The line of voters at the school grew longer, but no one wanted to leave, although the wait
would be very long.
What conclusions can we draw from the sentence?
Interest in the event

Students will act out the following scenarios in front of their classmates. This will allow
for students to see and interact with short stories in order to draw conclusions, search for
supporting details and identify the main idea, the cause and effect.
Phone callsMother to school secretary about sick student
Student to father about softball (baseball) practice
Student to boss about work
Teacher to principle

Student to friend
ScenarioRiding bike
Buying lunch
Packing back pack
Facial expressions to neighborExcited
Sad
Happy
Nervous
Surprised

H. DIFFERENTIATION
For students who wish to not act in front of the class will be excused. The point of this activity is
to increase understanding of drawing conclusions. This is not to embarrass the students or force
them to act against their wishes.
I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG
Students might not be engaged. In this case we will work in small groups or even pairs in order
to better engage the students in the activities taking place. This will reduce the distraction level.
J. REFLECTION
The largest part of preparing for this lesson was typing up the scenarios to use for acting. In order
to engage all or the majority of the 25 students, I was aware that many different scenarios had to
be prepared. I was also careful to incorporate parts that were more acting as well as more
speaking. This allowed for students who were willing to act, but not speak, or vice versa to also
volunteer. I would have even more of these situations prepared for next time. I was unsure how
willing to participate the students would be and they surprised me. I also had a few leader
students in mind who I knew would set a correct example as my first few volunteers. This helped
me to better guide the game.
I did not create a formal assessment for this game. I was able to present the information and
include students in the game in order to informally assess their engagement and understanding.
My biggest informal assessment was based on the engagement of a few key students. In a class
of 25, many of the quieter students remain less involved. I was able to watch for these quieter

students and with their volunteering and participation I was able to gauge the comprehension of
the whole group.
Games like these are incredibly valuable for student learning. I would do this game or games like
it again in a lesson. It increases engagement, and therefore also comprehension. In an ELL
classroom, it is common for games to be used a foundation for learning. I enjoy using games and
other fun, engaging activities over worksheets. Students have more fun and the activities are
more memorable. The biggest change I would make is preparing more scenarios in order to allow
more of the acting to take place. The students were even more excited about it than I had hoped,
and I feel more parts for students to act out would allow more comprehension.
This lesson was based off of an activity I saw last semester in Keister Elementary School. It was
a 3rd grade classroom, compiled of 17 ELL students. The teacher had found examples in a text
book that included reading scenarios aloud and writing the inferences they made. I adapted this
activity to be more engaging for all 25 of my students in order to fit the needs of whole group
time. These adjustments made a difference in the way that my class interacted with me and the
content being taught.