1

Literacy Lesson Plan

Part 1: Lesson Overview

Teacher Candidate Cooperating Teacher/School/District Date Grade
Rachel McDonald Virtual Lesson Based on Alicia Carrico’s April 21, 5th
Kristen Wieneke Classroom 2020
Isabella Tyler Columbus Elementary/Edwardsville
School District #7
Lesson, Learning Segment and/or Unit Topic: Instruction Time: 45 minutes
Similarities and differences in point of view
Classroom Context:

We have decided to teach our lesson in the fifth grade classroom of Alicia Carrico. The class has
twenty-five students that are all Caucusain, but vary in their economic standings. You tell that they
are in different economic classes because of the clothes the students wear and the supplies that they
bring in. Most students come from single households, meaning that both biological parents are still
together, but there are a few that have divorced parents. The students that have two households
seem to lose homework more often than the rest and the teacher has to send two of everything home
with them.

Ms. Carrico has also mentioned to us that the students can be broken into three groups. There are
students that are challenge students (students that are highest in the class). These students' strengths
include math and logic skills and reading comprehension. There are students at grade level. These
students' strengths are math and logic skills and literacy skills. There are students that are below
grade level and need extra help. These students' strengths are study skill strengths and social skills.
They work really hard when it comes to studying, but they still struggle with their work. These
strengths are important to this lesson's objective because the students need to be able to
comprehend the reading in order to talk about the similarities and differences of the character
Stanley.

The needs of the challenges students are social skills and a few need reading comprehension
improvement. The needs of the grade level students include improvement with writing
composition/ spelling. The needs of below grade level students include math and logic skills,
reading comprehension, and writing composition/ spelling. The strengths of this classroom is that
they can comprehend a reading really well. These needs are important to this lesson's objective
because they need extra practice in writing composition/ spelling which they will get from writing
the paragraph on the Selfie Reel worksheet.

The students are at the age where they are really interested in sports and almost half of the students
love to draw and color. They love to do any assignment that includes drawing. These interests are
important to this lesson's objective because the students need to draw pictures to describe their
character’s point of view which is where their artistic ability comes into play.

Part 2a: Common Core State Standard for ELA-Literacy and/or Other Standards
CCSS.ELA- Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important
LITERACY.RI.5.6
similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.
Part 2b: Lesson Objectives
Students will describe similarities and differences in characters’ point of view with textual evidence
 2

in the realistic fiction Holes with narrative text structure demands and syntax that includes
compound sentences and cohesive paragraphs.
Part 2c: Foundational Skills Related to Objectives
What should students be able to do before you teach this lesson?
- Determine point of view.
- Understand how to use textual evidence.
- Find main ideas of a text.
- Identify setting, characters and plot.
What was previously taught that you can build on in this lesson?
- How to identify point of view.
- How to select textual evidence to support main ideas.

Part 3a: Assessment Plan

● Comprehension Analysis Summary (pg. 305) - 3 virtual samples (1 high level work, 1
exceptional work, 1 lower work) 139-141
o Prior Knowledge: we will be asking students a series of prior knowledge questions
about Chapter 5 and the chapters prior.
o Prediction: We will ask children to make a prediction about one main event that will
happen in chapter 6.
o Comprehension: We will asked children to retell everything they remember about
Chapter 6 after reading, along with a series of explicit, implicit and critical questions
about that chapter.

Assessment

● We will assess the students’ learning of the lesson objective by grading the worksheet that
will be assigned after they read chapter five on their own and chapter 6 in class.
(Summative)
● The worksheet is titled Character Reel, this worksheet will contain two reels that will have
the students draw pictures of how the counselors vs. the campers view Stanley. Then,
underneath the reel, the students will have to write a paragraph about how the two views are
similar and different while using textual evidence to support this. (Summative)
● During the chapter and lesson, we will ask the students questions to get them thinking about
the prior chapters and comprehending chapter 3 which is the chapter we will be reading for
this lesson. (Formative)
● Another activity during class that we will do is create two sections on the board to help us
compare and contrast these character points of views on Stanley. On one side we have a
section labeled “similarities” and the other side labeled “differences”. Each student will be
given 2 sticky notes. On one of them they will write the similarity in the point of views and
the other they will write a difference in the point of views, then stick it to the side of the
board that it goes with. (Formative)

Evidence

● The evidence that we will have is that the student uses textual evidence to state how the
points of views are similar and different. (summative)
● We will have the worksheet that shows that they know how to go back to the chapter and
find textual evidence to answer questions. (summative)
 3

● The worksheet will also show that they can visualize and comprehend what they are reading
enough to draw the characters on the Selfie Reel worksheet. (summative)

Tools to Gather Evidence

● Everytime a new character is introduced we will stop the reading and ask “What do we
know about this new character so far?” (Formative)
● We will also ask them how do we know this about these characters to get them looking in
the chapter and finding textual evidence. (Formative)
● At the end of the story, we will ask the students what big things happened during this
chapter. (Formative)
● Once they have comprehended the last question, we will ask the students what the main idea
of the whole chapter was. (Formative)
● We will then do a STOP summary, which is mentioned in more detail below. (Formative)
● After reading the chapter and discussing it, we will assign the Selfie Reel worksheet.
(Summative)

List of Possible Misconceptions

- Students mistake a character's point of view for another.
- Students mix up characters.
- Students cannot determine the main idea of the chapter.

Part 4: Identifying Language Demands- Ways academic language is used by students.

General academic words:

- Event: a thing that happens, especially one of importance.
- Represent: act as a substitute for
- Text: a book or other written or printed work, regarded in terms of its content rather than its
physical form.
- Realistic: representing familiar things in a way that is accurate or true to life.
Subject- Specific words: details: an individual feature, fact, or item.
- Summarize: give a brief statement of the main points of (something)
- Point of view: a particular attitude or way of considering a matter.
- Similarities: the state or fact of being similar.
- Differences: a point or way in which people or things are not the same.
- Evidence: the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or
proposition is true or valid.
- Textual Evidence: evidence, gathered from the original source or other texts, that supports
an argument or thesis.
- Fiction: literature in the form of prose, especially short stories and novels, that describes
imaginary events and people.

Discourse:
- Description: Students are describing the similarities and differences between character point
of views using textual evidence from Holes.
- Compare and Contrast: Students are comparing and contrasting the point of views of
 4

multiple characters from Holes.

When reading, students will need to understand and comprehend simple, compound and complex
sentences in Holes as this novel writes with all three. They will be asked to write a paragraph using
a combination of simple and compound sentences, however, will not be asked to write complex
sentences. Simple sentences contain one indecent clause with a subject and a verb or predicate.
Compound sentences combine two independent clauses, each with a subject and verb or predicate.

Part 5: Teaching/Learning Sequence

Elementary students should apply all literacy modalities during the lesson:
X reading, X writing, X listening, X speaking, X viewing, X visually representing

Introduction
Begin the lesson by having the students recap what they read as homework from chapter 5 before
the current lesson on the book Holes by Louis Sachar.
● Teacher: “Can anyone give me a quick recap on what happened in chapter 5?”
● Student: “The campers are given their tent assignments so they know where they will be
staying.”
● Student: “They talk about the conditions of the tents that they live in.”
In this case, we would be reviewing chapter 5 while discussing the main events that were important
during that chapter. We will use this as a time to ask questions about the different characters that
were present, how we would describe the characters personalities and also how those characters
were impacted by the events previously described.
● Teacher: “What main idea was present within chapter 5?”
● Student: “That the campers were now settling into camp by being given tents and cots to
stay in. The conditions of the campers are pretty dirty, and the other campers are required to
help Stanley get settled in.”
● Teacher: “Now are there any characters that stand out during this chapter?”
● Student: “You have Stanley, the main character. They also introduce Magnet, Armpit and
ZigZag to him at this point and then he eventually meets Zero as well. At this point, Armpit
gets upset with Stanley because he calls him by his birth name which is Theodore.”
Then, we will ask students their predictions on what may happen during chapter 3.
● Teacher: “Now that we have recapped chapter 5, what do we think will happen in chapter
6?”
● Student: “I think that Stanley will become enemies with Armpit because of how aggressive
he was with him when he called him by his birth name.”
● Student: “I think that Stanley will actually become friends with Armpit and the other guys
since they are all required to live together.”

Development
First, we would have the students take turns reading aloud parts of chapter 6 of the book Holes. The
strategies promoted during this time will be reading comprehension while also listening skills. This
will become essential later when given the assessments used in class.
After the students have finished reading chapter 6, we then would provide the students with a sticky
note activity to assess the student ability to compare and contrast the point of view of the campers
and counselors at Camp Green Lake on how Stanley is as a person within chapter 6 while providing
textual evidence to support their claims.
● Teacher: “Okay, now I have made two sections on the board to help us compare and
contrast these character points of views on Stanley. On one side we have a section labeled
“similarities” and the other side labeled “differences”. You each will be given 2 sticky
 5

notes. One of them you will write the similarities in point of views and the other you will
write a difference in the point of view, then stick it to the side of the board that it goes
with.”
● *Student raises hand*
● Student: “So, could you give us an example of this?”
● Teacher: “Yes, so if we were talking about my point of view on hockey versus your point of
view on hockey.. one similarity is that we both like to watch hockey. A difference would be
that we like different teams though. Does that make more sense?”
● Student: “Yes, it does!”
After the students have finished, we will hand out the Character Reel Worksheet for students to
color and fill out. This will allow them to refer back to the board that was previously filled out to
then color multiple point of views they were asked about previously.

Closure
Ask the students to answer verbal questions to the STOP closing activity.

● Teacher: “We Started the lesson....”

● Student: “By talking about what happened in chapter 5 in the book.”
● Teacher: “the Topic was......”
● Student: “The point of view of the characters in chapters 5 and 6 in the book.”
● Teacher: “Our Opportunities for practice were....”
● Student: “To compare and contrast the different points of views.”
● Teacher: “the Purpose of the lesson was…”
● Student: “To understand how to use evidence to support our claims about the point of views
in the book.”

This can also be a good opportunity to discuss any predictions students may have for chapter 7.
● Teacher: “Now that we have finished discussing chapters 5 and 6, what are your predictions
for chapter 7 in the book?
● Student: “I think that Stanley is going to have a hard time doing the work that needs to be
done at the camp.”
● Student: “I think Stanley will try to run away from the camp in one way or another.”

Learning Extensions
● Allows students to make connections to the real world.
● Allows for the students to explain a new topic to people.

Part 6: Instructional Materials and Resources

Chapter Book- Holes by Louis Sachar

Sachar, L. (1998). Chapters 5/6. In Holes. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Character Reel Worksheet
Sticky Note Activity
Text Selection Bookmarks (DLA, p.331)
Comprehension Analysis Summary (DLA, pg. 305)

Commentary

1. Analysis of Teaching Effectiveness Using Self, Peer, and Professional Feedback:

 6

A. The diagnostic assessment that we used to enhance our instruction was the Comprehension

Analysis Summary (DLA, pg. 305). This assessment has a section that talks about prior

knowledge, which is where we would use the questions used within our introduction of our

lesson plan where we will be making predictions on what with happen within the upcoming

chapter before we have them read the chapter orally in class (DLA, p. 136). The differences

you may notice is if the students are retaining important information from prior events that

happened in the previous chapters. You can tell how well their reading comprehension is

based off what they knew before going into the activity. It is important to understand how

well your students are comprehending the material because if they are not able to retain

information from previous lessons, chapters, etc., it will be difficult, or impossible, to build

on with the next lesson that is being taught. When assessing these students on their prior

knowledge, it was based off of important details that were mentioned prior to chapter 6. We

decided to create a list of questions to help us gage what the students remembered from the

previous chapters in the book. We can use these questions to see how well the student is

retaining information, but it also might help inform us of who isn’t reading in their free time

if we compare it to questions, they are asked after reading in class. This can help us, as

teachers, take a step back and analyze the information given. By understanding what level

each student is at, it can help us shape our lessons and teaching techniques so we can benefit

our students as best as we can.

B. I feel that there were many effective strategies used throughout the lesson for our students to

be engaged in the learning. Within the video, you first see the introduction that is being

presented to start the lesson. Having the students read before-hand as homework, was a

good way to allow more time in class for discussion and comprehension assessments. It was
 7

also effective to ask questions about what they read up to this point before they moved on to

chapter 6 so students could get a reminder of important details that may benefit their

learning later but also allow students who may have had a hard to understanding the

previous chapters to now get more explanation as to what has occurred. When looking at the

virtual students work, you can see specific details that were mentioned in the previous

chapters come to life in the Character Reel worksheet that they had to complete for chapter

6. Another effective strategy was allowing the students to take turns reading during the

chapter. It makes it more engaging by mixing up the different voices and people talking

instead of having the teacher (us) constantly talking throughout the lesson. We also had an

effective strategy of having the sticky note activity. This allowed students to use their

reading comprehension skills to not only think about important events that happened in this

chapter and previous chapters, but also testing their prior knowledge on how to compare and

contrast and testing their skills on the new lesson objective on point-of-views. This was an

interactive activity that was also a diagnostic and formative assessment that students could

then write their own answers and place them in the spaces available on the board (DLA,

p.135).

C. I think something that could have been better was allowing the students to really run the

introduction of recapping on the books. I think it would help the students be more engaged

with the content because they felt more in control of the discussion. Then giving some

thought-invoking questions to help deepen the discussion or even keep them more on track

if needed. I think also using more academic language could have been useful during the

introduction, development, and closure as well and encouraging the students to use that

language with the teacher. This would be good because then the students can connect the

academic language to the actual action. For example, when talking about comparing and
 8

contrasting use those words instead of similarities and differences.

D. A suggestion for myself would be to make sure to give several examples showing what you

should do versus what you do not do. I talked about the comparing and contrasting and only

used on example of how you do it correctly which may not process for everyone. Another

thing would be to ask plenty of questions during the reading to see how the students are

comprehending what is happening while the reading is occurring (DLA, p.161). I also think

that with the sticky note activity, it might have been more beneficial to have the students

write this chart on a piece of paper and have them come up with several examples. That

way, they can choose their favorite one and can sort through which answers they are most

confident in. I also think that within the development part I should have thoroughly

explained the Character Reel Worksheet and then maybe made my own example of what

kind of work I was expecting. That way they knew what my expectations were from them

and how to get to that point.

2. Analysis of Peers’ Teaching ...Choose at least 3 lesson events you observed as you looked at
video of your team members’ “virtual” teaching to analyze in the chart below.

What I saw and heard What it means Instructional Alternatives with

References

Kristen did the STOP closing This was the ending of the There are several ways that the
activity at the end of the lesson and it allowed for lesson could have ended. You
lesson. This is where she students to gather their could have had an open-ended
asked a series of questions that
thoughts on the information discussion and allow students
correlated with the acronym,
STOP. She then stated the they had received that day. to talk about with everyone
questions which were as This is a great time to allow about what they learned that
followed: them to reflect on everything lesson. You could have even
-How did we Start the lesson? and to also provide any created an exit-slip worksheet
-What was the Topic of the clarification on areas that to gage their understanding
 9

lesson? might have been confusing for and keep record of what they
-What Opportunities did this students. This also allowed for knew without providing a
lesson allow for us to practice? Kristen to do her own formal grade for it.
-What was the Purpose of the
assessment to see what the
lesson?
students took from the lesson
During this time, Kristen was and how they can understand
super engaged with her how this lesson ties into a
students and kept a great tone meaningful purpose and use
of voice for all the students to for outside of the classroom.
follow what she was saying. I
noticed she took time to call
on several students in order to
get multiple answers for each
of the questions. She had a
great pace with how she talked
and waited on responses from
the students.

Rachel asked a series of This means that the students An alternative instruction for
questions at the beginning of were now going to be ready to this could have been for her to
the lesson to start off with the read chapter 6. This allowed have a turn and talk session
new chapter. She first made
the students to remember for the students or even put
sure to ask questions based on
the previous chapters read for details about chapters 4 and 5 them in pairs/groups. Allow
homework assignments and that they may have forgotten them to share their thoughts
then later about their since they read it on their own. and knowledge on the
predictions for chapter 6. This also allows for students previous chapters along with
During this time, kept the who did not fully understand their predictions. Then allow
students engaged and they the reading to now catch up on those groups to pair with
were willing to help answer
important details and ideas another group to allow several
her questions about the
previous chapters. She even that may be important in later people to be involved in a
suggested several details they chapters. Rachel also was also smaller discussion then
may not have remembered or able to gage what they knew eventually have them go back
noticed on their own. She used and what they were predicting to their seats for the whole
good academic language would happen for the next group discussion.
throughout her questioning the chapter.
students and made sure that
she used language that was
pertaining to the standard and
lesson objective.
Kristen’s ended the lesson This allows students to use the Allow students to go ahead
with questions on how information given in previous and write their predictions on
students would predict the chapters to then form an the board. They then need to
next chapter would go. She
opinion based on that put their reasoning to why
then allowed students plenty
of time to think out their information. By allowing them they think their prediction is
predictions and give an to collect that information, going to happen. If someone
answer. She also made sure to they then can explain as to has a similar prediction, they
 10

call on students who had not why they feel their prediction can put a star next to it. They
had the opportunity to discuss is correct and what lead them can also add more evidence
earlier during her STOP to that thought. for their claims. If they do not
closure activity.
agree with the prediction, they
can write their own on a
different part of the board and
see if others will also agree
with their claims and
evidence.

3. Analysis of Three (3) Students’ Learning of the Lesson Objective During/After the Lesson

Student 1: This student was at the level that was expected from them for the learning objective.
When looking at their Comprehension Analysis Summary (DLA, p.305), the student met the
expectations for their prior knowledge and prediction. When it came to retell the story on chapter 6
of Holes, the student was able to identify the characters, plot, and resolution, but slightly discussed
the setting but not in full and accurate details. With their scores in reading comprehensions, they
scored 100% for their explicit, implicit, and critical questions without and with look backs. After
evaluating all of this information, you can tell that the student is at an independent level for
comprehension functioning level. It is clear that the student used their prior knowledge that was
gained before the lesson and reading the book that it allowed them to build on during their reading.
It is also good to note that the student was able to describe things in detail that show that they have
an independent reading comprehension level since they could accurate retell the chapter. When it
comes to trying to enhance instruction, we could use the Guided Reading Checklist (DLA, p. 307)
to see how fluent their reading skills were along with the accuracy in their reading ability.

The student met the lesson objective because when you refer back to their Comprehension Analysis
Summary, they scored in the independent range. The student also at this time had done exceptional
work by achieving all of the requirements asked of them for the Character Reel Worksheet. The
student used a lot of words to help describe their drawing, such as talking about the color of the
jumpsuit and also talking about the dirty jumpsuit. This can be useful in the future because it shows
the student is able to pay attention to small details which can benefit them later when reading text.
Next time, we could have the students write an entire page of information to allow them to give
more details and explanations with several text evidence.

Student 2: This student is showing good progress towards meeting the lesson objective, but still
needs more work to provide good evidence and claims to support their knowledge on the lesson
objective. We again, used the Comprehension Analysis Summary (DLA, p.305) to determine their
 11

prior knowledge, retelling of events, and comprehension of the chapter in Holes. This student was
able to somewhat answer the questions correctly for prior knowledge but could use more detail and
the same goes for prediction. When it came to retelling the story, the student was able to identify
the setting and plot but could not fully meet the requirements of identifying all the characters and
describing the resolution of the story. After analyzing and score the comprehension portion, the
student score in the functioning level of instructional because of average to below average scores
on explicit questions, implicit questions, and critical questions with and without look backs.

This student was not meeting the lesson objective but has plenty of time to reach that point of
meeting expectations along with protentional. The student needs to add more description to their
text to better show their connection of their prior knowledge with the new knowledge of the story
and that correlation to their picture. Their picture could have more details to show their deeper
understanding of the text as well. The student will need to work on using textual evidence to
provide support to the claims they made on their worksheet. In the future, having this student work
on a worksheet that promotes claims and evidence would be nice. Also allowing a sit down session
and asking for more details on what happened in the book.

Student 3: This student was showing some signs of struggle in regard to meeting the lesson
objective. We again, used the Comprehension Analysis Summary (DLA, p.305) to determine their
prior knowledge, retelling of events, and comprehension of the chapter in Holes. We noticed that
the student did not have any prior knowledge to support them during this time along with
predictions. It should also be noted that the student could not accurately retell the characters and
plot but was able to somewhat answer correctly for the setting and resolution of the story. The
student also scored low on the explicit, implicit, and critical questions with and without look backs
during the comprehension portion of the assessment. This student was at the frustration level of
comprehension for this lesson objective and would require a lot more attention and work to get
them where they need to be.

This student was not meeting the lesson objective. They did not have complete paragraph and had
very vague descriptions. They only had two sentences that did not help provide a good
representation of the story and lacked textual evidence to support their claims. Their drawing also
lacked with color and detail. Their drawing also did not accurately represent their description that
was written at the bottom. In the future, having this student work on a worksheet that promotes
claims and evidence would be nice. Also allowing a sit-down session and asking for more details
on what happened in the book. I would also suggest having a discussion on how to make drawings
to accurately connect to their description.
 12

Lesson Closure: 50 Ways to Leave a Lesson. (n.d.). Retrieved

from https://teachingcommons.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/inline-files/Lesson Closures 50 Ways to Leave a
Lesson.pdf 
McAndrews, S. L. (2008). Diagnostic Literacy Assessments & Instructional Strategies. International Reading A 
 13

Checklist/Chart

Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Are they
participating in
the discussion?

Did they
identify a new
character?

Did they seem

to know what
was going on
during the
chapter?

Could they
identify the
setting of the
chapter?

Did they
complete the
My Character’s
Selfie correctly?

Did they
complete the
Selfie Reel
worksheet
correctly?

Comprehension Analysis Summary:

14
 15

Comprehension Score Questions:

Explicit:

- How many tents were at camp and who slept in those tents? (Six tents A-F, the counselors slept in tent F
and the campers slept in the rest)
- Why was Stanley at Camp Green Lake? (He stole a pair of sneakers from a famous baseball player)
- Why did the teacher not believe that Stanley was bullied? (Stanley was bigger than the bully)
- How did Stanley get blamed for stealing the shoes? (When he was walking home a pair of shoes
dropped on him from an overpass. He ran to take them home to his father when a police pulled him over
and Stanley found out they belonged to a famous baseball player)
- Whose shoes were they? (Clyde Livingston, a famous baseball player)

Implicit:

- How does Mr. Pendanski feel about Stanley? (He sees him as a criminal that needs to turn his life
around)
- What do the counselors call the campers? (Each camper receives a nickname that fits their personality
such as Zero but they are not called their birth name)
- How do the campers view Stanley? (They believe he did not commit the crime he was at camp for)

Critical

- Why do you think Stanley took home the shoes that dropped on him? (His family recycled shoes for
money so he was going to give them to his father)
- Do you think Stanley had intentions of “stealing” the shoes?

WORK SAMPLES:
16
17
18
 19

Character Reel Worksheet:

WORK SAMPLES:
20
21
22