LESSON PLAN

Name: Sarah Klaiber Date: 11/1/11 Grade Level/Subject: Third Grade Prerequisite Knowledge: Students should be familiar with what dinosaurs and fossils are. Students should be familiar with the lay out and features of an informational book. Approximate Time: 30 Minutes Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: Students will use background knowledge to predict what the book is about. Students will use prior knowledge to describe the features of an informational book. Students will learn vocabulary using the glossary and context clues. Students will learn the importance of building background knowledge. Content Standards: 1.A.2b Clarify word meaning using context clues and a variety of resources including glossaries, dictionaries and thesauruses. 1.B.2a Establish purposes for reading; survey materials; ask questions; make predictions;connect, clarify and extend ideas. 1.B.2b Identify structure (e.g., description, compare/contrast, cause and effect, sequence) of nonfiction texts to improve comprehension Materials/Resources/Technology: Fossil Seekers By Laura Buller SMART Board Implementation:

Time
10 minutes

Opening of lesson: (Objectives, hook, behavior expectations) Have students sit on the carpet facing. Remind students to sit criss-cross, facing forward, hands in lap, voices off. Raise your hand if you have ever seen a dinosaur? A fossil? Explain that today they will start a new book called Fossil Seekers. Review how the previous week they focused on using

background knowledge before they read a book. Ask:(Remind to raise hand) How do we activate background knowledge? -Look at the cover, title, etc. Why do we want to use background knowledge? -To better understand what the book is about, what the author is going to tell us. Show the front cover. Ask: What do you see? Do you think it is real or pretend? Story or nonfiction/informational? Why? What does the title mean? What do you think the book is going to be about? Talk about how the book is about people who look for fossils. It is a biography of three people who look for fossils. Who knows what we call people who look for fossils? Go through SMART Board slides and video giving more background info on paleontologists and fossils.

15 min

Procedures: Include critical thinking questions and accommodations for individual needs Another thing important to understanding informational books is understanding the words, or vocabulary. This book is about something I don't know a lot about. I think there are going to be new words that I don't yet know. What can i do? What do informational books usually have to help me understand words? Bold words means to look at glossary. Start reading the book. Stop at bold words or other words that students may be unfamiliar with. Look at pictures and captions. Explain phrases EL students my not be familiar with. Stop reading after the

story of Mary Anning.

5 min

Summary/Closing: Ask students what they learned- go over questions and vocabulary on SMART Board. Explain how it is important to review information to understand and remember. The more you think about something the better you remember it. Ask how the glossary and activating background knowledge helped understand the information? Student Assessment: Students will be informally assessed on if they use their background knowledge, information from the cover, to make predictions and observations about the book. Students will answer questioning/checks for understating throughout the lesson. Review questions and vocabulary review at the end of the lesson: Who was Mary Anning? What did she do? Why is what she did important? Extinct, Trade, Geology, Eroded