Grade Level: 6

Length of Lesson: 60 minutes

Common Core Standard(s):

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative,
connotative, and technical meanings.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.4.A
Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or function
in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Prior Knowledge/Connections:
After reading the book “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Reader’s Edition”,
students should have some understanding of what electricity and wind power are. Explicit
instruction may be needed to demonstrate to students what a windmill that generates electricity
looks like, and how it functions. Students should also have an understanding of the fact that the
culture in small African villages is different from their own in food, language, family values,
education, resources, and living standards.

Student Learning Objective(s):

After reading the book, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”, students will work in small
groups to create a vocabulary web that connects at least five separate terms associated with the
phrase “wind power”, utilizing the context of the book to generate their own definitions, and
supplementing these preliminary definitions using resources such as a dictionary.

Vocabulary:
Wind Power
Physics
Dynamo
Turbine
Electromagnets
Wind Farms
Power Surge
Transformer
Mutual Induction
Diodes
Incandescent Light bulbs
Circuit Breaker
Transmitter
Condenser
Amplifier
Prototype
Battery
Electricity
Charge

Assessment-Essential Key Question:

Summative Assessment: Students will complete a worksheet with definitions and their examples
from the text. Collect the sheets/graphic organizers/webs after students have completed the chart.
Evaluate based on depth of knowledge, use of quotes and book context to generate definitions,
and accuracy in description of words.

Formative: Observation on use of dictionary, book handling skills, use of inferential

comprehension to determine meaning of words in context of book, and integration of outside
resources.

Essential Key Question: How will students’ understanding of these key science terms impact
their ability to explain the content of the book? Are students able to work independently to create
and modify definitions based on context?

Materials/Resources:
Worksheet for students to fill out as they are reading the book (see attached)
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers’ Edition by William Kamkwamba and
Bryan Mealer
Example Passage
Vocab sheet for whole class instruction
Dictionary (Merriam-Webster, etc.)
Thesaurus

Technological Resources:
www.alliantenergykids.com/EnergyandTheEnvironment/RenewableEnergy/022397
 Website about wind energy that students can refer to as they are attempting to make
connections

Learning Activities:
Instructional Strategies:
o Model strategies used in determining meaning of unknown words within context
 Search for familiar terms within text
 Determine meaning of surrounding sentences
 Relation to words that students already know
 Connection to previous experiences
o Demonstrate ways in which to use morphology
 Does this word sound like another word that we already know?
 What parts of this word can we dissect and determine the meaning of?
 o Reread sections of book
 Assign specific sections to re-examine
 What details can we pick up on a second or third reading that we didn’t
pick up the first time we read it?
o Discussion
 Encourage students to share their own background knowledge and
experiences
 Think-aloud strategies in the form of an open discussion – how do we
form definitions based on a sentence that contains the unknown word?
Grouping Strategies:
o 10 minutes of whole class instruction – review goals of assignment, model how to
pull out context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words using a short
passage from the book or another informational text. Model how to utilize a
dictionary or thesaurus to expand knowledge and gain a more precise definition.
o 25 minutes of small group work – students will work in groups of three or four,
based on guided reading level, to create vocabulary charts
o 15 minutes small group work – students will work in same groups to expand
definitions utilizing outside resources located within the classroom
o 10 minutes of whole class debriefing – create a vocabulary chart that the entire
class is able to refer to, facilitate discussion on words that were used, ask all
students to contribute to final product.

Initiation:
After finishing the book, ask students to recap what the book was about. Summarize the
plot, and then ask students if they knew what a windmill was before reading the book. If yes, ask
them what they knew about them, if no, ask them something that they learned. Tell students that
they will be examining some of the harder science words that appeared throughout the book by
creating a vocabulary web filled with the words that they thought were the most interesting.

Lesson Procedures:
 After asking students about their experiences and prior knowledge, tell students that they
will be using context clues to generate definitions for the words that they thought were
the most interesting in the book.
 Tell students that the words they choose must relate to the term “wind power” in some
way, and that they must be able to explain their definitions and connections using
evidence from the text.
 Provide the definition for the term “wind power”, and inform students that you will be
reading a section of the book, and that they should be listening for a word that they want
to define which relates to the term “wind energy”.
 Read a short passage from the book out loud, and ask a student to choose a word from the
passage that they thought was interesting or that they were unable to define.
  Once a student has identified a word, start a graphic organizer/web in the front of the
classroom. Write “wind power” in the middle and then connect a box with the new term
inside of it.
 Ask students if they can give details on the meaning of the word, based on the passage
that was read. Once they have given a detail, ask them how they came to that conclusion
using the context of the book.
 Continue on this vein until four or five students have contributed with their thoughts.
 Once there is a working definition up on the board, ask for a volunteer to look the word
up in the dictionary. Review how to find terms in the dictionary, and read the entry.
 Once a student has looked up the term and read the entry out loud, ask students how this
definition compares to the one that was generated by the entire class. Ask if there is
anything that needs to be added to the definition that was generated.
 After a few students have contributed, assign students to groups and pass out the
worksheets.
 Allow students to discuss their definitions in groups and work together to find at least
five terms to add to their chart.
 After 25 minutes, break off group discussions and have students find a resource that they
will be able to use to expand upon the knowledge that has been generated in group
discussions.

Closure:
After group work, draw the students back as a whole class again and ask students to share
terms that they learned or wrote down on their charts. Add these to the chart, asking students
why they chose those terms, and how they connected this to the central term. Continue with
discussion until 7-10 terms have been added to the class chart. Ask students how they might use
this word defining strategy in the future, with other books or content areas.

Intervention:
Students who need help may have an audio version of the book that they listen to if they
are struggling to read the words on the page. Give students a potential list of words to choose
from with simplified definitions, and have them choose off of the list, then search for those
words within the text and use the passage to expand upon the way in which the word is used and
why it is important within the text.

Enrichment:
Students who benefit from a unique challenge in the classroom can use the words in a
different context, creating a word game, a picture dictionary, a labeled diagram, or a chart with
the terms that they selected and their definitions, which other students would then be able to
successfully play with/use.
 Name: ______________________________ Date: _____________________________
Directions: Using the book, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers’ Edition”,
locate five unique terms that connect to the center term. Using evidence from the book, create a
definition for each term and a reasoning for the connection. Then, use a dictionary or computer
resource to add at least one detail to this definition.

Term:
Definition:

Connection:
Term: Term:

Definition: Extra Details: Definition:

Connection: Connection:

Extra Details: Extra Details:

Wind Power
Form of energy conversion
in which wind turbines
convert the kinetic energy
of wind into mechanical or
Term: electrical energy that can Term:
Definition: be used for power. Definition:

Connection: Term: Connection:

Definition:

Extra Details: Extra Details:

Connection:

Extra Details: