Comprehension/Read Aloud Lesson Danielle Dolecki

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March 21 , 2017; 10:00-10:30
Mrs. Lams 5th Grade Class, Plains Elementary
Whole group

Materials:
Smart board presentation (attached)
June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner
Half sheets of notebook paper

Before Reading:
What is authors purpose?
o P.I.E- Persuade, Inform, Entertain (on smart board)
Why do we care about knowing an authors purpose?
o Become better readers understand/comprehend the text better
Story Words- What could the title of this book be?
I am going to read June 29,1999 aloud and while we are reading, think about
what the authors purpose might be. Try and remember specific evidence or
examples from the book.

During Reading:
Think, pair, share throughout reading of the book
Examples:
o What do you notice about this picture?
o Make a prediction with your neighbor about what might happen next.

After Reading:
What was the authors purpose? Raise your hand if you think it was persuade?
(inform, entertain) Students think, pair, share about how they know the authors
purpose is entertain.
Writing Response Exit Slip: Students will write few sentence responses.
How did the writer of July 29, 1999 entertain you? If you did not find the book
entertaining, what could the author change?

Reflection:
When I started planning this lesson, I asked my cooperating teacher what

comprehension strategy the class was focusing on during the time I would be teaching

the lesson and we decided on authors purpose. I knew I wanted to do a read aloud

because this is not something I have seen happen yet in my fifth grade practicum class.

To start the lesson, I used the question What is authors purpose? and a picture of a
bunch of pies to see if students were able to draw the conclusion that an acronym for

authors purpose is Persuade, Inform, Entertain. As I walked around listening to student

discussions, it seemed like most students were able to name the three times and were

able to make the connection to the picture of pies. Next, before reading, I used the story

words activity to help create interest and excitement about reading the book. I picked a

few random words and students seemed to really enjoy making their own titles. Some

just strung together a few of the words and some made more creative titles. Next time I

teach this lesson, I will have students write down their own titles and then share with a

partner, instead of just talking, to make sure all the students are thinking and

participating. During the story, I stopped and asked comprehension questions and

asked students to think, pair, share with their neighbors. This isnt something that is

done very often in their class, so I was surprised that a good majority of the students

were talking and on task. My favorite discussion was when I asked students to make a

prediction right after Holly realized the vegetables were not from her experiment. The

kids were so excited to talk about and share what could happen next. Many of the

students thought the teacher or another student had copied Hollys experiment. I was

surprised none of the students guessed anything about aliens even when I included

extraterrestrial in the story words; however, it made for even better reactions when we

read the last two pages! After reading, we discussed how we knew the authors purpose

was to entertain. Lastly, I asked the students to write a few sentences about what they

found entertaining in the book (and what the author could change if they didnt think it

was entertaining). We ran out of time and the students were only able to write one

sentence (or less) because my CT needed to start the next activity. Some students
justified their thinking with some examples from the story aliens, giant vegetables

falling from the sky, and others simply wrote less vegetables or the book should be

about pizza instead. If we had more time or if I was doing this with my own students I

would have them finish their responses at a later time. In addition, if I had more time for

my lesson, I would have adjusted my prompt and asked students to switch the authors

purpose to inform or persuade and rewrite the story with that purpose.

In my own classroom, I would start comprehension instruction by first looking at

students performance on past reading records and questions or by informal observation

an questioning during guided reading in their small groups. I like the idea of introducing

and practicing comprehension strategies whole group and then implementing these

strategies while reading in their small groups because students are not able to

comprehend a story if they struggle to read the words. I plan to do at least one read

aloud a day, regardless of what grade I end up teaching because I think they are

valuable for any age. This would give me the time to model thinking aloud while Im

reading and focus on specific strategies. I also like using a read aloud as the prompt for

a writing assignment because all the students will have that shared knowledge and then

the logistics of the writing assignment can be differentiated based on students needs. I

love the large variety of pre-, during, and after reading strategies and look forward to

including as many as possible into my lessons in the future as we work toward become

active readers.