Lesson Planning Form for Accessible Instruction Calvin College Education Program

Teacher Sarah DeGraaf

Date Fall 2017 Subject/ Topic/ Theme Introducing Schema and Making Text-to-Self Connections Grade 2nd

I. Objectives
How does this lesson connect to the unit plan?
This is the first lesson in the unit. In this lesson I will define and describe schema, and explain to students that we will be starting a study of schema to help
us with our reading comprehension. We will then launch into the first lesson, where students will learn to make a text-to-self connection.

cognitive- physical socio-

Learners will be able to: R U Ap An E C* development emotional
Define schema R
Understand that using schema is a way to help them understand (comprehend) a text
Use their schema to relate to a text (make a text-to-self connection) U
Ap

Common Core standards (or GLCEs if not available in Common Core) addressed:
R.CM.02.01: Make text-to-self and text-to-text connections and comparisons by activating prior knowledge, connecting
personal knowledge, experience, and understanding of others to ideas in text through oral and written responses.

(Note: Write as many as needed. Indicate taxonomy levels and connections to applicable national or state standards. If an objective applies to
particular learners write the name(s) of the learner(s) to whom it applies.)
*remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create

II. Before you start

Identify prerequisite After gathering students on the carpet at the front of the room, I will ask the class if anyone
knowledge and skills. recalls or remembers what the word schema means and listen to their responses.

Pre-assessment (for learning):

I will assess students prior knowledge/experience with the idea of schema by asking students if
anyone can define what the word schema means.
Formative (for learning):
Outline assessment Reading Up North at the Cabin and modeling connections.
activities
(applicable to this lesson) Formative (as learning):
Students reading time, making their own connections.
Summative (of learning):

Provide Multiple Means of Provide Multiple Means of Provide Multiple Means of

What barriers might
this lesson present?
What will it take
neurodevelopmentally,
experientially,
emotionally, etc., for
your students to do this
lesson?
Representation
Provide options for perception-
making information perceptible
Play dough, visuals, linking
fingers.
Provide options for language,
mathematical expressions, and
symbols- clarify & connect
language
Posters to clarify new terms
that will remain on the
Action and Expression
Provide options for physical
action- increase options for
interaction
Students link fingers to show they
have made a connection with the
text while listening to the story.
Provide options for expression
and communication- increase
medium of expression
Use playdough as a model to
express ideas, in addition to
explaining the concept of schema
with words.
Engagement
Provide options for recruiting
interest- choice, relevance, value,
authenticity, minimize threats
Students will have the choice to go
book shopping or continue
reading a story from their book
bin to make connections with.
Provide options for sustaining
effort and persistence- optimize
challenge, collaboration, mastery-
oriented feedback
 whiteboard throughout the
unit.

Provide options for Provide options for executive Provide options for self-
comprehension- activate, apply & functions- coordinate short & long regulation- expectations, personal
highlight term goals, monitor progress, and skills and strategies, self-
modify strategies assessment & reflection
Students will have the
opportunity to apply the Ask students to turn and talk
concept taught by writing so that you can discover
down text-to-self connections whether or not students have
while reading. understood the definition of
schema and the idea that
schema can grow, and that
students can see whether or
not they have been paying
attention and understood these
concepts.
Poster with definition of schema written on it, ready to be hung up (have tape or
pushpin nearby)
Two different colors of playdough, one to represent the ideas in my head (my schema)
Materials-what
and another to represent all the stuff I dont know, or the knowledge available to me
materials (books,
that I can learn (brown and green)
handouts, etc) do you
Copy of Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson Chall
need for this lesson and
Image representations of schema
are they ready to use?
Image of world
Handout
The whiteboard will read: Goals: 1. Define schema 2. Make connections with the text

Students will gather at the carpet area in the front of the room for this lesson. (No
How will your rearrangements should have to be made.)
classroom be set up for I will remind students to make a good seat choice (by not sitting by someone who
this lesson? distracts your learning).

III. The Plan

Describe teacher activities AND student activities
Time Components for each component of the lesson. Include important higher order thinking questions and/or
prompts.
3 min After gathering students on the carpet at the Students will actively participate by thinking
Motivation front of the room, I will ask the class if anyone about the definition of schema and raising their
(opening/ recalls or remembers what the word schema hands to share their thinking with the class.
introduction/ means? I will wait for students to think, and
engagement) after a few have their hands raised, call on one
person to answer. After listening to students
replies and responding appropriately I will show
the poster made that defines schema and clearly
hang it where students can see it and tell
students that it will stay hanging up as a
reminder of what the word means. I will tell
students that we will be starting to study a unit
 on schema today.
25 I will then say One way that we can think about During this time students will be listening and
min schema, is to think about it like it is play dough. observing the model for schema.
I have two colors of playdough. The green The visual will help students to understand the
playdough is all of the stuff that I know about. I definition of schema as well as that there is a
know a lot about dogs, so I have schema, I have huge amount of information in the world that
knowledge in my head, for dogs, so I have some can be learned.
green playdough in my mind for dogs. As I am
saying, this I will pick up a piece of green
playdough from my brain (image on piece of
paper) and show students how there is a piece
of playdough to represent this thing that I am
knowledgeable about. I will add a few more
things (swimming, 2nd graders at
MeadowBrook, my family).
Then I will show how there is another bigger
pile of brown playdough representing all of the
knowledge out in the world that I dont know
about. I dont know how to be a surgeon, or a
doctor or to give someone stitches. I dont know
to be a chef at a restaurant. I will explain that
there is knowledge in the world that I do not
have in my head, but that I can learn about.
I will also mention that even though there are
things I know a little bit about, (like cooking for
Developmen
example) I dont know everything about. There
t
is so much more I could learn! And so many
(the largest
ways that my schema could grow!
component or
Students turn and talk to one another about the
main body of
Ask students to turn and talk and remind each meaning of the word schema. Students
the lesson)
other what schema is. volunteer and share with the class when called
After students have discussed, ask someone to on.
raise their hand and share with the class.
Respond appropriately.

Next, we will talk about all the ways that schema

can help us.
I will first ask students if their schema can grow. Students turn and talk again to discuss whether
Have them turn and talk, and call on volunteers schema can grow, and then share with class as
to answer on behalf of the class. appropriate.
Next I will ask students if their schema can ever Turn and talk about the next question, then
be wrong, having them turn and talk again. share with class.
I will write these things on the board: Our
schema can...1. Grow 2. Change or be corrected
Then we will transition to see how we can use
our schema to make connections to a story.

I will tell students that we are going to read a

story to see how we can use our schema to make
connections to a story.
So we are going to read a story and use our
schema, (point to poster) use the knowledge in
our head, to relate to the story
Read: Up North at the Cabin by Marsha Wilson
 Chall
I will ask students how we could use our bodies
to signal when we find a connection between
our own schema and the story. Students think, then volunteer to share ideas.
Hopefully what we come up with is an agreed on
way to show connection (ex:fingers linked like
two links in a chain)

Ask students to make this signal when we across

something in the story that they connect with.
Explain that we call this a text-to-self
connection. While reading, point out some of
these potential moments early in the story:
Ex) Link your fingers if you have schema for a
cottage or a cabin
Ex) Link your fingers if you have schema for
swimming
If students are not signaling that they are finding Students signal while listening to the story when
connections, I will pause and see if students they find connections between themselves and
need more explanation. the text.
As we are reading, I will pause to call on a few
students with linked fingers to share the Students can choose if they want to share their
connection they found, so that others who are thinking with the group.
having trouble making connections can see ideas
from their peers.

3 min End by asking students to pick a story that they

may have a connection to. Maybe that book is
something they are already reading. Perhaps
you can relate to a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.
Maybe you want to go book shopping for a book
Closure that you might have a lot of connections with.
(conclusion, Encourage students to use their schema to make
culmination, connections with what they are reading.
wrap-up) Send students off one by one once they have a
plan in their head. Give students a worksheet
that says I can make connections with the text
at the top, with the sheet divided into two
columns that are titled. In the text and In my
life
Model how this sheet can be filled out with
examples from Up North at the Cabin so that
students will know how to fill in this sheet as
they read.
Your reflection about the lesson, including evidence(s) of student learning and engagement, as well as ideas for
improvement for next time. (Write this after teaching the lesson, if you had a chance to teach it. If you did not teach this
lesson, focus on the process of preparing the lesson.)
This first lesson went really well. When I first asked students to talk to each other about what schema meant, I found that
many of them could describe what schema was after discussing the topic with a partner. I was surprised to find this, because
after giving the pretest I thought very few students understood what schema was. Perhaps it was because they couldnt write
down the definition, but they actually knew more than was transcribed on their pretests. The students were slightly
distracted by the visuals, thinking they were funny. But I think the students were just in a silly mood. I think the visuals (play
dough and schema images) were still useful in describing the topic.
I added a few things while I was speaking that I hadnt written in the lesson plan that went really well. One thing that I
decided to add was to ask if anyone knew what a unit was, and to tell the students that we were starting a unit study of
schema today. I think that this helped to stress that this was an important topic that we will be focusing on for multiple
lessons.
Another last minute decision that I made was to give students the option to fill out the worksheet with connections they
found from the text that we read together, or from a new text. More than half of the students chose to fill out the worksheet
using examples from the book we read all together. I think that this went very well for many students. I was impressed with
their willingness to fill out these worksheets, as handing out worksheets like this is not something that Mrs. Vander Boon
usually does. I think that it made the lesson really focused, and will definitely continue to give worksheets like this
throughout the week.
One thing that did not go as I planned, and maybe I would still do this the same next time, but students did not come up with
the connection signal I hoped they would. This was not surprising, I didnt expect them to read my mind, but I ended up
trumping their ideas with my own which I didnt like because the point of asking their opinions was to have them help make
the decision on what signal we would use. The signal the students wanted to use was knocking on their head (brain) and I
think that will be a great signal for adding new schema, so I will bring this idea back up on the third lesson, but I ended up
telling the students that the idea that I had was that we would make connections with our fingers like a chain to show when
we found connections in the story.
Overall, it was a great first day and I am excited for the rest of the week.