UMU Lesson Plan Template

2017-2018

Name: Emily Cantley Date: February 11, 2018

Grade Level: 2nd Grade Class Period: N/A
Subject: Reading Lesson # & Title: RL.2.3 Describe how characters
in a story respond to major events and
challenges.
Function of the Lesson (check all that apply):
 Introduce New Skill or Content
 Practice
 Review
 Remediation/Re-teaching

Context for Learning and Cultural Responsiveness Rationale:

Learner Attributes:
I am teaching at Lexington Elementary School in the Marlington School District. The school is in an urban
setting. The school population is mostly White, Non-Hispanic with 86.2% of students classifying in this category.
The population also includes about 13% of students that identify as Black, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and
Multiracial. There is a 53.6% population that have economic disadvantages and about a 15.2% population of
students with disabilities.
I have 20 students in the class, 11 boys and 9 girls. This is an inclusion classroom, with 4 students on IEPs and 2
with 504 plans. Within this class we have 1 African American student and 18 Caucasian students. Several of the
students within this class come from financially stable homes, although 12 students are identified as of low
socioeconomic levels.
 One female student has been identified with high functioning autism. She struggles with oral and written
skills being a grade levels below her fellow classmates in literacy skills
 One male student has been identified with a SLD and is reading one grade level below his classmates. He has
many problems with writing sentences and paragraphs on given prompts. He makes errors in capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling making his writing hard to read.
 Another male student has been identified with an ID, and he reads nearly 3 grade levels below his peers. He
can copy basic words but has a hard time writing basic words and sentences from memory.
 A male in the class, identified as ED has achieved grade level standards in math, reading and other academic
abilities. Multiple behavior interventions, planned ignoring, proximity, and tweaking assignments to limit his
frustrations and emotional overload helps this student.
 One student with a 504 plan has poor eyesight and needs to be at the front of the room. She also receives
special accommodations for her learning.
 Another student with a 504 plan has a health disability and makes frequent trips to the nurse’s office. He will
need help with assignments if he needs to leave.
Environment:
 My classroom environment is very structured. The far wall consists of windows that cover it from one
end of the classroom to the other; there is a very open feel to the room. There are many student resources
around the room that my kids are able to use when needed. Student work is displayed all around the room.
There are small centers for individual reading or work. The desks are put into 6 groups of 6 to encourage
group work and collaboration. This seating arrangement increases social experiences for my students as
well as peer support. This can assist the student with autism. Having the desks arranged this way can also
help motivate the student with ID to learn.
 The student that leaves frequently to see the nurse will be seated in the group of desks near the door for
minimum distractions.
 The student with autism will be seated away from the windows, hallway, and any other area of the room
that she could be easily distracted by during the lessons.
 The room has a “cool down” center for students who need to gather themselves or need to calm down
individually. This center can also be very useful for the student with ED or autism.
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Cultural Responsive Rationale:
 In planning this lesson, I will need to keep in mind my students’ prior experience with reading, as well as
identifying characters and main ideas in the reading.
 I will also need to consider my students with ID and SLD.
 I will also need to consider my student with autism who struggles with both written and oral instruction
and assignments.

Content Standards:
Standard: RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Rationale: This standard is being taught because being able to identify main ideas and characters is a progression of
understanding more complex literary text.

Learning Objectives:
1. When reading a story or passage, students will be able to describe the challenge that took place and how the
characters responded with an 85% accuracy.

Academic Language:
Character, main idea, challenge, response

Assessment Plan, Formative Assessment:

1. Do a check for understanding to make sure everyone is able to identify the characters in the story as well as the main
idea. Ask the class who the main characters are and the students will answer who the main characters are. Make note
of the students who are unsure of the main characters or who are slower at responding. Meet one on one or in a
small group with the students who were struggling and explain what a main character is, who it is in the story and
why they are a main character.
2. Have students turn and talk to their neighbor about the challenge or major event that took place in the story. Have
them also share with each other how they personally would react to the challenge or event that took place in the
story. This is a way to assess their comprehension of the story and events taking place. Students must recall events
from the story, understand what happened, and be able to come up with a reaction that they would happened in the
story.
3. With a partner, have the students complete worksheet #1 as a collaborative formative assessment. Have them draw
the challenge or major event that took place in the story. Then, have them describe the challenges or major events
that happened in the story they read and then describe the responses of the main characters. While the students are
completing this activity, circulate around the room and check for understanding. Offer help as needed and make note
of the students who are struggling. For those struggling, ask them to describe the challenges and events verbally and
have them describe the responses of the main characters verbally from the story.
4. Give the students several short fairytales focused on characterization and the response of those characters to the
challenge or event presented. Have them describe who the main character is, what the situation is, and how they
respond. Use stories the students are familiar with and have them individually complete worksheet #1 for each of
the stories they are given.

Assessment Plan, Summative Assessment:

1. Cold prompt: give students a completely new story. Have them read the new story and take note of the characters
and main events or challenges. Have them describe who the main character is, what is the situation, and how they
respond. Have them individually complete worksheet #1 for the new story after reading.
2. After completed and graded, give assessment back to students to see their grades and go over it as a class for better
understanding.

Procedures, Lesson Introduction (Whole Class Discussion): 10 minutes

1. Gain attention by showing the class pictures of different characters from fairytales and having them identify them
and tell what story each character is from.

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 2. Explain what happened to each character in the fairytale they are in.
3. Explain what makes a character in a story and what a challenge or major event is in any story.

Procedures, Lesson Body:

Review and Presentation- 15 minutes
1. Introduce a fairytale to read to the class. Ask the class to pay attention to who the main character is and what
challenge they experience.
2. Read the fairytale selected. After, have the students do a turn and talk to activate prior knowledge of characterization
and tell their partners who the main character is in the story, what challenges or major events they experience, and
how they respond.
3. Then, ask the class to share some of their responses.
4. Go over as a class who the main character is of the fairytale, what challenges they faced, and how they responded.

Structured and Guided Practice- 25 minutes

1. Do a check for understanding (formative assessment) to make sure everyone is able to identify the characters in the
story as well as the main idea. Ask the class who the main characters are and the students will answer who the main
characters are. Make note of the students who are unsure of the main characters or who are slower at responding.
Meet one on one or in a small group with the students who were struggling and explain what a main character is,
who it is in the story and why they are a main character.
2. Introduce a new story called, What Do You Do with a Problem? Tell the students to pay attention to who the main
character is and what challenges or major events they experience in the story.
3. After reading, have students turn and talk to their neighbor to discuss the challenge or major event that took place in
the story. Have them also share with each other how they personally would react to the challenge or event that took
place in the story.
4. Do a check for understanding (formative assessment). With a partner, have students complete worksheet #1 as a
collaborative formative assessment. Have them draw the challenge or major event that took place in the story. Then,
have them describe the challenges or major events that happened in the story they read and then describe the
responses of the main characters. While the students are completing this activity, circulate around the room and
check for understanding. Offer help as needed and make note of the students who are struggling. For those
struggling, ask them to describe the challenges and events verbally and have them describe the responses of the main
characters verbally from the story.

Independent Practice- 15-20 minutes

1. For the summative assessment, the students will be given several short fairytales focused on characterization and the
response of those characters to the challenge or event presented. Have them describe who the main character is,
what is the situation, and how they respond.
2. The students will be given worksheet #1 that they will complete individually based on the stories they read.
3. Use stories the students are familiar with for the first summative assessment to ensure that they understand the
concept and are able to identify the main characters, challenges, and responses of the characters.
4. After students complete the fairytales activity, provide them with a cold prompt: give students a completely new
short story that they are unfamiliar with. Have them read the new short story and take note of the characters and
main events or challenges.
5. Have them describe who the main character is, what the situation is, and how the character responds. Have them
individually complete worksheet #1 for the new story after reading.
6. After completing, have some students share about their story they read and who the main character was and what
challenge they faced as well as how they responded.
7. Review with the class again about main characters and how events or challenges can affect the characters, causing
them to respond in different ways.

Procedures, Lesson Closure: 10 minutes

1. Summarize by saying, “Today we learned about characterization and how challenges or events in a story can cause
characters to respond in different ways. You should be able to identify main characters, challenges or major events,
and how they respond in a story.”
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 2. Say, “It is important to be able to identify who main characters are and how they respond to events in a story
because it is part of reading and understanding literature as well as understanding fully the main idea of a story.”
3. As a class, have students describe the three things discussed in this lesson that we were looking for in the stories we
read (main characters, challenges or main events, and responses of characters).
4. Say, “Next we will practice describing characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence
of events.”

Differentiation, Individualized Instruction, and Assessment:

 The student with an SLD will be partnered with another student or in a group to help with the reading. The teacher
can differentiate the learning process by using a combination of oral and visual strategies in teaching, as well as
reading all the questions aloud in the whole class activities. Using both written and oral assessments for the student
provides additional differentiations that will benefit their learning.
 The student with an ID will be partnered with another student or in a group to help with the reading. Using oral and
visual teaching strategies help differentiate the learning process, as well as reading all questions aloud in whole class
activities and individual assessments. Allowing the student to orally be assessed provides additional differentiations
that will benefit the students learning.
 The student with ED will receive benefits from the differentiating process of learning by using individualized
behavior interventions, including redirection. The student can be provided with short breaks if they become
frustrated during their work; they also have the “cool down” center. The student’s assignment can be spaced out to
help avoid frustration.
 The student with autism struggles with oral and written skills. The student may need extra time and guidance to help
with language concerns. The student will be able to work with a partner or in a group to help with issues in oral and
written communication. Also, working one on one with the student will benefit their learning and allow them to
orally discuss the lesson. They may need the story to be read to them.
 The first student on a 504 for their eyesight can have seating that allows them to be close to the board to see more
easily. A copy of the notes and worksheets will be printed in larger font, if needed. Also, the stories may need to be
in larger font or they will need to be read to the student.
 The second student on a 504 will be given extra time to allow them to complete assignments, in case they need to go
to the nurse’s office during the lesson or activities and miss instruction or work time.

Instructional Materials and Support:

 The book, What Do You Do with a Problem?
 Selection of different fairytales
 Pencils
 Crayon or colored pencils
 Worksheet #1 (attached) multiple copies

Research and Theory Commentary:

1. Vygotsky’s research theory promotes learning through social interaction. It is crucial for students to work together
during lessons because it allows them to gain more knowledge and better understand topics discussed. Peers are
great resources for help during the learning process because they encourage learning as well as offer support for
each other.
2. Vygotsky’s research theory also is present throughout this lesson with the zone of proximal development (ZPD).
The teacher is able to see the difference between what their students can do without help and what they cannot do
without help through the different assessments and practice. This allows them to see who is understanding the
lesson and who needs extra help or practice.
3. Albert Bandura’s social modeling theory is used throughout this lesson when the teacher first models reading the
story and describing the main characters, challenges or main events, and responses of characters in the story before
having the students do it on their own with different fairytales.
4. The ASR think-pair-share is used when students participate in turn & talk. They think, pair up with their neighbor,
and then share with each other. They are asking each other questions, answering questions, and discussing their
answers as well as comparing and contrasting. It helps the learners understand the lesson or unit.

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 5. Marzano’s research theory of cooperative learning is used in this lesson through collaborative formative
assessment. Students are working with partners to maximize their own and their partners learning. It also helps
check their understanding of main characters, challenges or main events, and responses of characters. They are able
to use each other for support as well as teaching each other while completing the task asked of them together.

Use of Technology Commentary (if applicable): N/A

Reflection and Instructional Commentary (if applicable): N/A

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