Minaghan 1

Small Reading Group Assignment

By: Maxine Minaghan CI 475

Minaghan 2 Overview of Lessons The classroom I student teach at is a fifth grade gifted classroom with no ELLs. In this particular reading group there is one student with a 504 plan but all students are reading at above grade level. One student, Gage, the one with the plan due to his ADHD, has a lower comprehension score compared to the rest of his class. I had worked with this particular student in the lowest reading group for a while and chose this reading group when groups were reformed (eliminating the lowest reading group) to monitor his progress. He of all students can use the extra activities to sharpen his comprehension skills. All of the lessons chosen directly relate to a book group role of summarizer, connector, or discussion director. I chose to work on the skills of summarizing, asking questions, connecting and retelling so that students can improve how they complete their roles to make book group time more meaningful. I also wanted to work on how students summarized to improve the summaries given before the daily read-aloud because these are often very lengthy and continue every event that was read the day before. Discussion directors to often ask questions that do not require thinking but instead only make the students remember what happened or they can look in the book to find the answer. I found that students similarly did not make good connections because they were vague or connected to something that everyone could relate to. After completing the first lesson I knew I wanted to revisit the idea of summarizing and a new strategy to learn would be how to retell a story. This is something they are asked to do for reading tests to determine their ability so any extra practice in this strategy would be beneficial and would lead them to see the differences between retelling and summarizing. Often the summaries during the read-aloud are really just the students retelling what was read.

Minaghan 3 These activities were made to be quick and so that the students did not feel like they had to do extra work than the other students. These students are very grade motivated so I tried to make some of the lessons such as the first and third into more of a game for the students to keep their interest. All of these lessons will improve students understanding of the Hatchet by Gary Paulsen because they will be able to better comprehend what they have read.

Minaghan 4 Small Group Lesson Plan 1 Grade Level: 5 Classroom on carpet Number of Students: 4 Days: 1 (15 minutes) Instructional Location: Front of

Materials: 5 copies of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, four pieces of paper and pencils Standard(s) Addressed: What Common Core Standards will be addressed during the lesson? CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.4a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Content Objectives What will the students know and be able to do by the end of the lesson (use observable language)? Students will be able to write their own summaries of an excerpt from the text with a set amount of words.

Language Objectives What language will students be expected to utilize when illustrating their understanding? Students will be able to state that a summary is the main points of something. Students summaries will only reflect the key points of the selected passage including, that the main character misses Terry who he had explored the woods with while playing survivor (page 52).

Prerequisite Skills: Students will have read up to page 63 of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Students will have practiced summarizing texts during read-alouds, assignments and other projects. Enduring Understandings (Big Idea): Good readers employ comprehension strategies to better understand what they are reading. Essential Questions: What are the most important parts of a book, chapter, or paragraph? What words have more meaning, to make writing more concise, or to the point?

Title: Hatchet Theme(s): Author: Gary Paulsen What themes will be Genre: Fiction explored during this

Focus: Vocabulary: What strategies and What vocabulary will skills will be the focus the student need to

Minaghan 5 lesson? of the lesson(s)? know? Comprehension, Summarizing Summary Summarizing strategies Before: Setting the stage, activate and build background knowledge, introduce and explain The teacher will remind the students of how one or more student gives a summary of what was read the day before during the daily read-aloud. The teacher will ask the students What is a summary? Students should be able to respond that it is the main points of something or something similar to that. The teacher will then ask, Why do we need summaries? Students answers can have a variety of range but the teacher should emphasize its ability to tell someone what a text is about, and to help us remember what was read. The teacher will then ask students What do you think about the summaries during read-alouds? The students should realize that often too many details are given and might even notice that telling a summary in order is also very important. If the students do not make these realizations the teacher should state them and clarify why they are important. Summary in definition is only the main parts of text and should be stated in order. The teacher will now explain that he/she has a challenge for the students to summarize a section of the book in no more than ten words. The teacher should explain to the students that most of the time there is a page or word limit for written work in life and that this strategy will help them become more concise or to the point in their writing, and will help them decide what are the most important parts when writing a summary. During: Explicit instruction, active engagement in meaning making, and practice (you should be checking for understanding throughout) The teacher will then ask students to turn to page 51 and will ask, Who would like to read the first full paragraph on page 51? He looked around suddenly, felt the hair on the back of his neck go up. Things might be looking at him right now, waiting for himwaiting for dark so they could move in and take him (Paulsen, 1987, p. 51). The teacher will then ask the students what the most important parts of that sentence are? Students should answer that the main character was scared of animals coming to get him at night. The teacher will then ask the students, What if you had to summarize that sentence in ten words? The teacher will then model creating a sentence, using fingers to count out words to show students until forming a more refined version of, Brian thought animals would come get him once dark out. The teacher should note while revising the sentences to think about which words will have more meaning or more accurate to the paragraph when words are added or deleted. The teacher will then ask students to turn the page and for someone to read aloud the first sentence. The teacher will then pass out sheets of paper to the four students and ask them to think on their own of a sentence with no more than ten words to summarize that specific sentence. The students do not have to use their paper and the students after two minutes will share their answers. The teacher should emphasize that they are only thinking of this one sentence and the most important parts of this one sentence in ten words. The teacher should also tell the students that these

Minaghan 6 sentences still needed to be complete sentences with no grammatical errors. Have the students read out loud their summaries of the first sentence. Some students may choose to have a very short sentence to summarize the sentence and the teacher should praise the student or students that keeps the most important details. An ideal sentence would be, In the city, Brian played with Terry in the woods. The teacher will then have the students read out loud the second sentence and then will ask the students to summarize both sentences now in a sentence with ten words. The students should add to their general statement of the boys playing together outside that they also pretended they were lost. The teacher should note the differences in what the students find important. The teacher will then ask a student to read the next sentence out lout and then fore each student to summarize the three sentences, the first paragraph, in a sentence with ten words in two minutes. The sentence should shift from discussing the place where the boys played to what they played and expected to have when they were lost. If students are including details that are not as important in their sentences the teacher should ask them what the most important parts of the paragraph. If the students are still unsure on what to include the teacher should emphasize that Brian had pretended to be lost before but he had planned to be much more prepared than he is. After: Restate teaching point, clarify key points, extend ideas, check for understanding The teacher will explain to the students that summarizing always involves thinking about what is and is not important. The teacher will ask the students if they now more remembered this section of the reading after thinking about summarizing this one paragraph. Summarizing should activate students memory. The teacher should emphasize that summarizing helps you understand what you read better and will help you recall what you have read if you force yourself to think about what you have read when finishing a page, chapter, etc. Good readers know to check to see if they can remember what they have read, and although they may not remember what they have read in a sentence with ten words, this activity helped practice the skill of summarizing. This strategy also helps one write to the point which is something that certain types of writing ask for. The teacher will ask the students if it became easier to summarize after doing it the first time? Students will be engaged in reflection throughout the lesson as the teacher gives feedback on their one-sentence summaries. Students should be actively checking to see if they comprehend what they are reading and one way to check if they understand is to ask themselves to give a summary of what they just read at different stopping points. This activity turned this skill into more of a game but it forced the students to only include the most central parts of the excerpt. The teacher can challenge the students to summarize the next reading section, pages 63 to 81 in a sentence with only ten words. The teacher will check for understanding by listening to the students reading their summaries out loud. Assessment: The teacher will assess if students know what a summary is by whether or not they can answer the question in the beginning and by listening to see if their summaries include the key

Minaghan 7 components. Students work will only be informally assessed to inform further instruction on comprehension strategies. Extension: The teacher can challenge the students to summarize the next reading section, pages 63 to 81 in a sentence with only ten words. Differentiated Instruction: All of the students should be capable of thinking of a sentence that summarizes the excerpt in ten words. One student in particular Gage, may not be able to write the sentence in the time allotted. In reality the time is more given as a motivator to think quickly but Gage will need reminders to be thinking of a sentence. Modify and Changes to Plan: If teaching a strategy to a group with Gage again I might have him go first so that he contributes his own work, not a last minute sentence that he put together after listening to the others. I would make the students write down their sentence summaries so that they all have something to contribute.

Minaghan 8 Lesson 1 Reflection The students seemed to like using the strategy because it was a game to them that included some challenge but was still easy enough to succeed at. I was worried that the students would not participate that much because they knew it was not for a grade so I wanted to make it into a challenge. The students although given scratch paper were not interested in using it to form sentences that were ten words to summarize the sentences. Due to students talking out loud to think of their sentences, the activity became more of a group activity. I thought this would help Gage, the student with ADHD, who was having problems focusing on his own to form a sentence. Students seem to focus more on making the sentence ten words than to make sure that the sentence was the best possible summary for the section asked to be summarized. This is most likely due to the fact that I did make it more of a game by limiting the number of words but in my feedback I explained which students included the more key points. For instance in the first summary Terry included that the event was two years ago while the other group members did not specify the length of time but only that it had occurred in the past, and I suggested that it is most important that the reader knows the event occurred in the past. None of the students after the second time of summarizing emphasized that Brian and his friend pretended that they were lost but instead still emphasized what the area looked like in which they played. I had to state that what they played was more central to the story then where they played. For the third summary all four students included that they pretended they were lost. I think Gage can summarize from seeing him summarize in other work but he did not care to during this lesson and his answers seemed to be just combinations of what others were saying. These students tend to be very grade motivated but my teacher would not allow this to be part of a grade. Besides

Minaghan 9 Gage the other students did not seem to put a lot of thought into it but both girls, especially Grace wanted to be right and were very quick to revise what I told them to in their summaries. At first I thought this activity would be very easy for my students and that the students would understand what is most important in terms of the novel as a whole. I learned that they still think a summary in practice is saying all that was said in a different way. I have noticed this very much during our read-aloud summaries that students want to mention every detail and that we lose valuable teaching time doing this. Students also did not do too much rephrasing when writing their summaries, which would show more of their comprehension. I think the students can use some more practice with this skill but they do get practice with summarizing through the daily read-aloud and one of the roles for the book groups is summarizer. The activity was well paced and did not require any real scaffolding on my part but I did have to give feedback to students on what the key points are. I should have been better at involving the two boy students if I was going to turn it into more of a group activity with the girls. Gage also got away with not doing much during this activity and therefore I would like to make him more responsible by next time I will tell the students they must write down their sentences. This way students will more think about the activity and will have their own work to contribute.

Minaghan 10 Small Group Lesson Plan 2 Grade Level: 5 Classroom on Carpet Number of Students: 4 Days: 1 (15 minutes) Instructional Location: Front of

Materials: 5 copies of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, four pieces of paper and pencils Standard(s) Addressed: What Common Core Standards will be addressed during the lesson? CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.4a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Content Objectives What will the students know and be able to do by the end of the lesson (use observable language)? Students will be able to answer right there, think and search, author and me, and on my own questions. Students will be able to classify questions as right there, think and search, author and me, and on my own questions.

Language Objectives What language will students be expected to utilize when illustrating their understanding? Students will identify right there questions as being able to find the answer to the question right in the text. These questions often use the same language found in the answer in the question. Students will identify think and search questions as when you can find the answer in the text but must look for it in multiple places. Students will identify author and me questions as when you need the author and the readers thoughts to answer the question. Students will identify on my own questions as when they use their own ideas to answer the question.

Prerequisite Skills: Students will have read to page 81 of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Students will have practiced creating questions as discussion director that are supposed to use higher level thinking questions. Enduring Understandings (Big Idea): Good readers employ comprehension strategies to better understand what they are reading.

Minaghan 11 Readers engage in discussion of books and can use a wide variety of types of questions, but more engaging discussion comes from higher level thinking questions. Essential Questions: What do higher level thinking questions sound like? What are different types of questions? How do you answer different types of questions?

Title: Hatchet Theme(s): Author: Gary Paulsen What themes will be Genre: Fiction explored during this lesson? Higher level questions

Vocabulary: What vocabulary will the student need to know? Right there question, think and search questions, author and me questions, on my own questions Before: Setting the stage, activate and build background knowledge, introduce and explain Before doing book roles (children are in literature circles with designated roles they choose) the teacher will ask the students what they know about types of questions. Students may have no idea how to answer this question but they know they are supposed to ask higher level thinking questions as discussion director. The teacher will activate prior knowledge by saying that it is the discussion directors job to ask questions that you are not supposed to find right in the book but have to think about. The teacher will ask, What do questions that take more thinking sound like? The students should be able to answer that they might include the opinion of the reader or predicting what will happen next. The teacher will then state that sometimes when students are the discussion directors they do not ask enough higher thinking questions. Asking good questions shows that one understands what they read and can think about it more deeply. Thinking about good questions to ask and answering good questions makes the reader engage with the text more and comprehend better what they have read. The Teacher will pass out a worksheet that will include the four types of questions and their definitions: Right There Questions: Questions that you can find by looking right in one place in the text. These questions often use the same wording as found in the answer. Think and Search Questions: Questions that you need to look in more than one place in the book to answer. Author and Me Questions: Questions that use both ideas from the text as well as those of the reader. Students must infer or reason/interpret to find the answer. On My Own Questions: Questions that can be answered by the thoughts of the reader, you do not need to look in the text. The teacher will ask for students to read out each different type of question. The teacher will explain that when reading it is not important to classify each question but when asking questions think about what will lead to more discussion. Questions with longer answers or not

Focus: What strategies and skills will be the focus of the lesson(s)? Question and Answer Relationships

Minaghan 12 straightforward answers such as for author and me questions and on your own questions will require higher-level thinking. Students should think about the type of questions they are asking to ensure better discussion in their book groups. It is also important when answering a question that seems like a right there question to think if that topic is in any other part of the text, to make it a think and search question. During: Explicit instruction, active engagement in meaning making, and practice (you should be checking for understanding throughout) The teacher will explain that first they will classify the following question stated by the teacher, How would you feel if you were Brian at the end of chapter eight and found how to make fire? The students should answer that this question is an on my own question because you did not have to look back in the text for specific information as long as you remembered that Brian figured out that with his hatchet he could make fire. The teacher should point out words and phrases including How would you feel so that students see that one way to identify an on your own question is asking the reader what they personally think directly. On the same worksheet with the definitions will be the following four questions. 1. What is the importance of the Secret that he remembers in his dream? Student Answer: The secret is that he saw his mother kissing another man and that is why his parents are getting divorced. This is a think and search question. 2. What did you think Brians second dream was trying to tell him? Student Answer: Will vary. This is an on my own question. 3. What attacks Brian in the middle of the night? Student Answer: A porcupine. This is a right there question. 4. Why did the bear act that way in chapter seven? Student Answer: The book says that the bear just wanted to study him and did not mean him any harm. The bear was eating berries when he saw him so the bear might just not care to eat him because he already has food. This is an author and me question. The teacher will give the students five minutes to answer these questions. The teacher will then call on students to answer questions and say what they classified it as. Only questions one and five will have any further discussion in the answer and students are encouraged to ask questions if they do not understand why a question would be a certain type of question. The teacher should not the distinguishing features of each question that make it that type of question. For instance the first question the part in chapter seven that was in the students reading did not have all the details needed to answer the question but you could find the answer in other places in the book. After: Restate teaching point, clarify key points, extend ideas, check for understanding The teacher should explain to the students that when you can answer or ask an author and me or an on your own question you build your comprehension of the text. To answer that question you have to think about what you read, interpret, and connect to what you know. In the role of discussion director students want to avoid right there and think and search questions. Good questions to ask are on my own and author and me questions. The teacher will ask students for starter questions that would be a higher-level thinking question. The students should say varieties of What would you do if, What do you think will happen, What do you think the author

Minaghan 13 meant by, and so on. If students cannot answer this question then go back to the definitions of the different types of questions and clarify them with the students. The teacher will conclude the lesson by challenging the group that when it is their turn to be discussion director to only use on my own and author and me questions. Ask the students to see if there is more discussion than normal when they ask these questions. Students are expected to be using higher level thinking questions and this way they have a strategy to identify if their question is higher level or not. Higher level questions are on my own and author and me questions. Assessment: Students will be assessed informally by looking at their worksheets after completion. No grade will be given but their answers to these questions will inform further instruction. Students will also be informally assessed during group discussion about whether or not they understand the different types of questions and which lead to more thinking. Extension: The teacher can extend this activity by having the students classify the questions of the discussion director. The discussion director may realize through this process that they only ask questions that can be found by looking in the book or in parts of the book and are then not engaging their fellow students to the best of their abilities. Differentiated Instruction: The teacher has the ability to write the model question on the Smartboard if students cannot follow the teacher stating the question. One student in particular does best when given instructions and/or questions in print as well. There are no ELLs to differentiate for and the student with a 504 plan would be more than capable of doing this exercise. There is one student who has ADHD so the reading group activity will take place by the rocking chair where there are fewer distractions. The back reading table always has many different materials on it. Modify and Changes to Plan: I would clear off the back table so that students are more likely to write on the paper when they have a flat surface. I thought they could write on their books and that discussion would also support the students in completing the activity. Students who wrote more on their paper had more to discuss. One of the questions was also ended up also being a right there question so next time I would more carefully prepare questions. Writing all instructions on the worksheet would have helped the student with ADHD follow the instructions since he only answered the questions and did not categorize the questions, the more important step to understanding the main points of the lesson.

Minaghan 14 Lesson 2 Reflection Although I had thought this would be more of an individual activity the students very quickly asked to work in partners and I told them this was meant to be individual work. The students had many questions clarifying the definitions of types of questions and one of the questions on the worksheet ended up also being a right there question when I had meant it to be an on my own question. Because there was a high enough level of confusion, the worksheet became a group activity with me, as the teacher, asking leading questions to get students to think about what type of questions the questions were. One student Gage, who has ADHD, acted like he was following along but instead just answered the questions without distinguishing which type of question each one was. I was also not able to meet with this reading group when I had wanted to so they were much farther in the book by that time and that is what also led to my decision to change it from being an individual assignment to more of a group activity. Through conducting this assignment I learned that the students read the book too segmented and find it hard to remember sections that only occurred two chapters previously because the cooperating teacher does not meet that regularly with groups the students felt they had not read the section in awhile. There is also no concluding project for the reading group books and students are not motivated then to think of the book as a whole. Even the roles always focus on only the chapters in the assigned reading for that day. Gage did not willingly contribute any answers to this activity but when asked to read one of the types of questions definitions he reluctantly agreed. The two girls talked their answers through with one another and had a similar system to identify what type of question each question was. Mayahuel asked, Do we have to answer the questions? We read this so long ago! I told her to answer them as best she could and that to identify what type of questions they were they would need to look in the book anyways.

Minaghan 15 Terry did not so much contribute responses but more repeated what was said. He may have had less knowledge of the book because he has not turned in many of his role assignments and the cooperating teacher says that he often likes to pretend like he knows the answers. For the last question I also decided that my answer key was wrong and that this could also be an on my own question since so little information is given for why the bear acted the way he did. Terry was very quick to share his response of, The bear just wanted to take a bear nap and his reasoning for why the question was an on my own question. Mayahuel and Grace had already come to that conclusion that the question was an on my own question and were annoyed by Terry just repeating their answer. The group looked more like the two girls working together and both Terry and Gage in more of their own worlds because they both need to practice listening to others. The students seemed to need practice in thinking about how to form discussions and what questions lead to more discussion. Mayahuel was quick to tell me that the first question was a right there question because it said so right in the text. She had glazed over the definition of a right there question which included that the answer must be only in one location in the book and that question could only be answered if you had read earlier sections in the book. I noticed that students also filled in answers when we went through them as a group and that Gage seemed to be slowly adding answers long past the activity and into the sharing of the reading group roles. Terry only put short answers on his worksheet but gave full sentence responses when called on. The students did not seem as motivated to do this activity because they saw it as an extra thing that they had to especially do, which is true, and that it was taking away time from their dailies where they could be working on a projects that were due. That led to Grace, normally a very good student, to only put in half of the work required.

Minaghan 16 Another factor to why students did not want to write out responses on their paper was that we did not sit at the back table. Sitting at the back table would give the students a larger hard surface to write on. Writing out all instructions would have also made the activity clearer to students and I know that it helps Gage to have the instructions in front of him. I would also spend more time in choosing questions to make sure that I have an example questions for each type of question.

Minaghan 17 Small Group Lesson Plan 3 Grade Level: 5 Classroom on carpet Number of Students: 4 Days: 1 (15 minutes) Instructional Location: Front of

Materials: 5 copies of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, ball with numbers one through three written on it three times in three different colors. Standard(s) Addressed: What Common Core Standards will be addressed during the lesson? CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.4a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.9 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Content Objectives What will the students know and be able to do by the end of the lesson (use observable language)? Students will be able to make connections to their own lives, other texts or subjects in school, and to the text itself.

Language Objectives What language will students be expected to utilize when illustrating their understanding? Students will state, I connected this part to this in my life, another text/subject or to another part in the Hatchet because of these reasons. A connection is a link from one thing to another.

Prerequisite Skills: Students will have read to page 112 of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Students will have practiced connecting the text to their own lives, other texts/subjects, and to the text itself in the role of connector as part of the book groups. Enduring Understandings (Big Idea): Good readers employ comprehension strategies to better understand what they are reading. Essential Questions: What makes a good connection? Why do we connect what we read to other things? Title: Hatchet Theme(s): Author: Gary Paulsen What themes will be Genre: Fiction explored during this lesson? Making Connections Focus: What strategies and skills will be the focus of the lesson(s)? Making connections Vocabulary: What vocabulary will the student need to know? Connection

Minaghan 18 to other texts/subjects, to self and to the text itself. Before: Setting the stage, activate and build background knowledge, introduce and explain The teacher will ask the students, What does the connector have to do? The students will respond that the connector must make connections to school or their life. The teacher should ask the students, What is a connection? The students should be able to respond that it is when something reminds you of something that is similar to it, and if not the teacher will provide the answer. The teacher should ask the students, Why do we have the role of connector? Why is it important? The students may not know but the teacher should say that when we connect we build our understanding of the current text we are reading. When we make connections we are engaging in the text and really thinking about it. The teacher will ask the students what could be included when connecting to school. The students should state other books they are reading as well as what is going on in other subjects. The teacher should then engage the students in a discussion of what would be good parts of Hatchet to make connections to. For instance would a connection be that both Brian and I have friends named Terry? The students should respond that this is not that important to the plot of Hatchet and that Brians friend could be named anything. A better connection would be that when Brian forces himself to eat the turtle eggs that reminded me of how I had to force myself to eat a lot of different types of food while I was in Ecuador with a host family because otherwise I would be very hungry. Unlike Brian I also did not want to offend my host family but like him I needed to have food to eat. Students should be able to state that good parts to make connections to include key points of the texts that are important because the further the plot or show character growth. This may need to be stated by the teacher. The teacher will then show the students a ball with the numbers one through three written on the ball in different locations three times in different colors. The teacher will have a sheet of paper to show the students what color means what. The teacher will explain that the students are to softly underhand pass the ball to another student. Which ever number their right hand lands on when catching they will then have to make that many connections to either their life, school (other subjects and books being read) or the text itself from the reading that was due that day. If the color is black students must make connections to their life. If the color is blue students must make connections to their school and if the color is red students must make connections to Hatchet. After they make their connections they can softly underhand toss the ball to another student who has not had a turn yet. After you have gone the students should cross their arms to show they have gone. Students who do more with the ball besides hold on to the ball and then softly throw it underarm to a group member will lose their turn. The teacher should explain that good readers do this when they read without even thinking but it shows their engagement with what they are reading. This strategy will help them get better at that skill by practicing finding connections and to prepare them for their role of connector in the book group. During: Explicit instruction, active engagement in meaning making, and practice (you should be checking for understanding throughout)

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The teacher will then model the activity by pretending to get a one that is black. The teacher will then state that in chapter eleven when Brian looks at himself in the water and realizes his body has changed, this reminded me of when I ran cross-country and would notice that I became a lot stronger by the end of the season. Like Brian I would not notice this happening everyday but after a period of time I would notice that I had grown much stronger. Brian through hard work changed physically and mentally, similar to my experience of being on the cross-country team. The teacher will ask students to first review the book independently and look through the chapters they were to read for the day. Try to remember parts that reminded you of something in school, life or are similar to another section in the book. Prepare possible connections. The teacher will take two to three minutes to do this depending on how engaged the students seem to be. The teacher will then start the game by throwing the ball to a student. The teacher will monitor students as they pass the ball to one another and to make sure they are making the appropriate amount of connections. Students who relate specific segments of Hatchet that are central will receive praise from the teacher. After: Restate teaching point, clarify key points, extend ideas, check for understanding The teacher will restate that making connections is something that readers naturally do when they read because they are thinking deeply about the text. This strategy helps the students do that and to gain in their understanding of the book they are reading. The teacher should ask the students: What was the easiest type of connection to make? What was the hardest? What made that type of connection the easiest? What made that type of connection the hardest? Do you think you understand the reading better after making the connections? What does a connection need to have to be a good one? The teacher will only call on students who raise their hand to speak but may ask for a group votes to get a consensus on which ones were the hardest and the easiest. Students should respond for the last question that a good connection relates a key part of the book to something in his or her life, school, or another key part in the text. Assessment: The students will be informally assessed by the teacher in their responses during the connection activity and through the discussions before and after. If students are not able to make connections then more instruction will be given on how to make connections in following days. Extension: The teacher will challenge the student who is the next connector specifically and all the students to from now on try to only make connections to key parts in the Hatchet. Try to not focus on the

Minaghan 20 small details but on the plot points or character growth that further the storyline. The teacher will also ask the students to see if they do this when they read naturally and to report back next time they met with any connections they have. Differentiated Instruction: For students who have to give three connections will have the option of giving a different type of connection for one of the connections. This will only be offered if the student is struggling to think of a third one. If Gage, who tends to freeze up when put on the spot and suffers from stage fright, cannot think of three connections he will get to phone a friend for the third connection. If any of the students say they cannot think of a connection in another circumstance they will be asked to take some time to think of one and write it down on a piece of paper. Modify and Changes to Plan: Students who lose their turn must also write down three connections.

Minaghan 21 Lesson 3 Reflection I wanted to do more of a game with the students after the last activity because two of the students complained that they were losing time to work on a project that was due. This is true that the activity adds an extra fifteen minutes to their fifteen to twenty minute reading group. The game went over pretty well besides one student tossing the ball to himself very high in the air before his turn. This led me to tell the student, Terry, that he forfeited his turn and he had to hand the ball to me. I then threw it to the last student Gage whose right hand landed on the one that was black. He said, I connected to Brian when he forced himself to eat the turtle eggs because I would also force myself to eat turtle eggs. I told Gage that a connection needs to be to something that has occurred in his life. We then discussed exactly what Gage was connecting to and that was that he would eat nasty things if he had to (and he explained he would also do it for a dare). I also told Gage that this was very similar to my example so he made a new connection that, When Brian is preparing his camp, I thought of when I went camping with my family. Grace landed on two that was blue and said for one, I connected this to the book Island of Blue Dolphins that I read for a GRB [book report] because both the main characters had to survive on their own and went fishing. Mayahuel was at band when were doing the reading group so she could not participate. The game was meant to be fast and get students thinking about making connections while they read and the lesson was a success for all there but one group member. Terry showed that he had an understanding of what a connection was through his contributions during discussion but once he was removed from the group he did not have anything to say during the final discussion. He commented that, The connector sometimes connects to things that we can all connect to. He is showing that he knows a good connection needs to not be something so broad that everyone can connect to. Grace had read Island of Blue

Minaghan 22 Dolphins the previous month but still was able to discuss the book and relate it to the one she was currently reading, showing her strong reading skills. She may have already made this connection on her own while reading, showing that she has very high independent reading and comprehension skills. Gage can make a connection with the proper scaffolding and I would be interested to see what he would be able to put on paper after fifteen minutes and some extrinsic motivation. He is a very hard student to motivate and always likes to do the minimal amount of work. I wish a ball being introduced to the classroom brought about less uproar then it did but the students were not the best at handling the new situation. I think if the students were able to do little activities like this more often then there would not be a problem. I knew that Terry and Gage were the two students most likely to act out with the ball but hopefully Terry learned that it is better to play by the rules so that he can play the game. Looking back I wish I had Terry write down three connections on a piece of paper so that he was still involved in the situation but I was hoping that in a game where there are only four students and the ball only goes around once there would be no problems. At this point I am very frustrated with Gage as a student and do not know what I can personally do to get him to contribute more. I see this from him throughout the day but I have yet to see my cooperating teacher find a way to get him to contribute more. At the same time at the end of the lesson Gage understood what was needed for a connection as evident by his responses during the final discussion. Gage stated, Good connections connect to the important parts when I called on him to ask what was one thing a good connection needed.

Minaghan 23 Small Group Lesson Plan 4 Grade Level: 5 classroom on carpet Number of Students: 4 Days: 1 (15 minutes) Instructional Location: Front of

Materials: 5 copies of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Standard(s) Addressed: What Common Core Standards will be addressed during the lesson? CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.4a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Content Objectives Language Objectives What will the students know and be able to What language will students be expected to do by the end of the lesson (use observable utilize when illustrating their understanding? language)? Students will be able to read the text that is at a fifth grade level. Students will be able to retell either page 114 or 115 of Hatchet to a Students will be able to use academic partner. language when retelling the page to their partner. Students will be able to provide constructive feedback to their partners on how they can improve their retelling. Prerequisite Skills: Students will have read to page 128 of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Students will have practiced making summaries during the reading groups and during read-alouds. Students will have practiced retelling a story during reading tests to see what level they are reading. Enduring Understandings (Big Idea): Good readers employ comprehension strategies to better understand what they are reading. Essential Questions: What are the key points on a page, chapter, or book? How do you retell a story? Title: Hatchet Theme(s): Author: Gary Paulsen What themes will be Genre: Fiction explored during this lesson? Story Retelling Focus: What strategies and skills will be the focus of the lesson(s)? Story retelling, Vocabulary: What vocabulary will the student need to know? Retell- to say the key

Minaghan 24 points of a story in detail Before: Setting the stage, activate and build background knowledge, introduce and explain The teacher will remind the students of the summarizing activity they did together and will ask the students, What was important to do when summarizing? Students should be able to answer to find the main points and to say them in order. The teacher will then ask the students if they have ever been asked to do a retelling of a story. The teacher should also ask the students, What is a story retelling? The students may or may not have been asked to do a retelling but the teacher should explain if a student cannot that a retelling is a more detailed summary. The teacher will then explain to the students that today they would be practicing the strategy of story retelling with a partner and would be giving each other feedback on their retelling. When doing this strategy students are practicing finding the key parts of the book and how to tell a story. This will help them in their writing of stories and will help them be better readers because they can better comprehend what they read. Good readers make a note to remember the important sections to better understand the text. The teacher will tell the students that they will be rereading pages 114 and 115 and then they will have to retell one of those pages to their partner. Their partner will then retell the other page. When retelling the students may not look at their book. The students will fill out the evaluation sheet as they go for their partner. During: Explicit instruction, active engagement in meaning making, and practice (you should be checking for understanding throughout) The teacher will model this for the students by asking a student to read page 113 of the Hatchet aloud. The teacher will then turn the book over and will recount page 113. The retelling should be similar to, Brian stood at the end of the lake looking at the water and he felt one with the water. He saw a fish dart but knew it was not a food fish because of how it moved. The food fish stayed closer to shallows but the large fish did not. He was sick of eating fish though. The teacher will then ask the students to read pages 114 and 115 quietly to themselves and to give the teacher the ready signal (hands folded on lap) when they had finished. Once all the students have finished reading split the students into partners and pass out a sheet to each student. The sheet the student received will be for the page the other student will read. The teacher should then have the students close their books and give their retelling of their assigned page to their partner. Their partner should check off all that the student says in his retelling and then give the other student their grading sheet. The students should then switch roles. After: Restate teaching point, clarify key points, extend ideas, check for understanding The teacher will restate that purpose of story retelling is to practice identifying the key points of a page, a chapter or a book. Story retelling should be a more detailed summary of the text. Students will reflect on how they were at the strategy though looking at how they scored on the retelling checklist filled out by their partner. The teacher will ask the students: Did you remember what occurred on pages 114 and 115 before rereading and doing the finding the key points

Minaghan 25 retelling? Do you think you now will remember what occurred on those pages better? If this was a summary what key points would not need to be stated on your checklist? Students should be able to respond that this activity made them remember what specifically happened on pages 114 and 115. The students should think to exclude that Brian looked for a foolbird on page 114 and students could exclude that Brian was at first afraid on page 115. The teacher should tell the students to use this strategy to test themselves when reading to make sure they are paying attention and to remember the key concepts of this strategy when writing a summary. Assessment: Students will be informally assessed by the teacher who will listen in on the groups as they do their retelling and from the teacher informally assessing how they did on the story-retelling checklist. Students who do not tell the events in order or leave out two or more key events will not be seen as understanding the strategy of story retelling. This activity will inform future instruction of the students. Extension: This lesson could be extended by asking students to next time do a retelling of a chapter for the class. This could be done instead of the summarizer role for the book group. This would help students learn what is important when looking at a larger section of the book. When completing the one-page retellings the students for the most part had to include all action but when doing a retelling of a whole chapter there will be some action that is left out. Differentiated Instruction: All of the students should be more than capable of doing this assignment so there is no reason to differentiate who gets what page even though 114 is slightly easier to retell. Modify and Changes to Plan: The lesson went very well so there are no changes that need to be made. I would next time have the students retell a short story but I would have them write it so that they can better organize their thoughts. Learning how to organize your thoughts while speaking is also an important skill and should not be overlooked.

Minaghan 26 Lesson 4 Reflection This lesson went very well and all the students participated and seemed to understand what was needed in a retelling. Terry and Gage, who told the events out of order, did this only because they both forgot to say one event and at the end added in the missed event. Grace and Mayahuel worked well together as partners and praised each other for their retellings. Gage had to ask Terry, Did you say that he nodded at the wolf? which Terry had done but Gage had missed during the retelling. Terry and Gage were still able to fill out the checklist for one another and were able to give a retelling. The students in their summaries tend to give too much information so this activity was easier for them because when you retell a story, more of the story is shared than in a summary. During the final discussion the students knew which events were less important and those tended to be the ones that when giving their retellings they either forgot to say or almost forgot. From this activity I can tell that Grace is a very advanced reader and knows how to find the central points of a story. Mayahuel was also very good at retelling but she forgot the detail of Brian looking for a foolbird. All of the students know how to write a story from beginning to end, as evident by how they knew to tell a story in the correct order. Grace and Mayahuel were also better at being specific in their retellings and to use the phrasing used in the book while Terrys retelling sounded more from Terry. Gage had a lot of pauses in his retelling but did well with the partner activity and he share more than he would have had it been a whole group activity. He did forget one event but talking in an organized way is a skill that Gage is working on. During this activity it was more my job to listen to the students during their retelling. I realize I can work on my group discussions and making sure they are meaningful. Too often I

Minaghan 27 give students the answer instead of asking more questions to lead them to the answer. When I asked the students if they have even retold a story before to someone they said no but I know this is part of how the students are tested for reading. I should have then asked, Has a teacher ever asked to you give a detailed summary or asked you what happened in a story? to still access prior background knowledge of what story retelling would be like. I would not make any modifications to this lesson besides if I was to do it again I would have the students retell a short story but would most likely have them in that circumstance write down the story due to retelling a longer story.

Minaghan 28 Critical Reflection The students did the best with the connecting and retelling lessons because it is something they have done often in their classroom. Although the teacher does not ask them to retell stories the students are asked to give summaries, which often turn into retellings of what they read. The students struggled the most with the types of questions lesson and this was most likely due to my mistakes on the worksheet. Better planning and preparation would have solved that problem. Students liked the summarizing lesson but focused more on getting to the ten words than making sure that each word was chosen carefully to best summarize the sentences, which would include leaving out some information. Although in the past comprehension skills were more taught once students could read, researchers now find that students start developing this skill as they are learning to read and even before that (Dooley, 2010). Students need to have different strategies modeled for them in order to understand how to use that strategy and comprehension, for fifth graders, is one of the main skills they are working at since they for the most part have reading fluency. The types of questions lesson plan idea and the story retelling lesson plan idea came from Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach by Gaile Tompkins (Tompkins, 2014). Through answering the questions students are improving their comprehension and through deciding which type of question each is. The story-retelling lesson was supposed to lead the students to see that often their summaries are retellings and they did realize that summaries included less information through their responses during the final discussion. In the future I would have the students practice more the skill of summarizing and making questions that lead to more discussion. This would greatly improve the book group time

Minaghan 29 and help during the daily read-aloud tremendously. Students can also use these strategies to be better readers because the strategies make them think about and relate to the text.

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Minaghan 35 References Dooley, C. M. (2010). Young Childrens Approaches to Books: The Emergence of Comprehension. The Reading Teacher. 64(2), 120-130. Paulsen, G. (1987). Hatchet. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division. Tompkins, G. E. (2014). Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (6th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.