My Lit LP Fall 2022 NAME of Candidate: Briana Friddle

HEADING of the LESSON PLAN

Title of Lesson: Using the Questioning Strategy to Improve Reading Comprehension

Subject/Topic: Reading / Comprehension
Grade Level: 4th grade
ELA Standards
RL.4.#1RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly
and when drawing inferences from the text.
ELD Standards
PII.#3 PII.4.3.Ex: Use various verbs/verb types & tenses appropriate to the task and text.
•Learning Goal(s)
● ELA learning goal
SWBAT…Students will be able to use the questioning strategy to ask and answer inferential
questions with quotes from the story in order to improve their comprehension.
● ELD learning goal
SWBAT… Students will be able to use various English verb types and tenses correctly when
asking and answering inferential questions.
● ALD
The academic language demands of this lesson are the following: 1) vocabulary- related to
inferences, evidence/quote and terms in the story, “Island of the Blue Dolphins” 2) and
grammar- related to asking questions, creating complex sentences & including a quote in an
answer.
Vocabulary: inference, quote, evidence, various helper verbs, custom, forbade
Grammar/Syntax: question syntax, using quotes in sentences, complex sentence syntax
•Assessment- Criteria
* Can ask questions about why a character thinks/acts/feels as they do in the story.
* Can infer the reasons by using details in the story plus relevant prior knowledge.
* Can develop answers that use a couple of sentences to explain the reason.
* Can include quotes from the story into the answers.
* Can use correct sentence structures and verbs for written questions and answers.
I will use the criteria to ask students questions to check for understanding and to observe their performance to
determine how well they can perform the learning goal. What question did you ask about why the character
was thinking/feeling/acting in the story? What details from the story and your own knowledge helped you to
infer the reason? How do you incorporate a quote from the story into your answers? How well do you explain
the reason in your answer? I observe them asking and answering questions when they write them and present
them to determine how well they can perform the learning goal. I expect student answers and performance to
reflect the criteria.

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 HEART of LESSON PLAN
*Learning Activity – what the students do

Grouping Students work together in pairs.

Desired Product By the end of the activity, students make 6 inferential questions and answers
about the story, Island of the Blue Dolphins. They present these Q&As in a
poster on a digital document that they post on the whole class Padlet for the
novel.

What students Using a digital version of the story, Island of the Blue Dolphins, each pair of
do step-by-step students reads/listens to the page from the story assigned to them. They focus on
(include use of the character and what they wonder about why the character thinks/acts/feels as
tech and use of they do in the assigned page of the story. The pair selects one of the inferential
academic question starter cards to help them form an inferential question about this. For
language example, “Why did...?”
supports) The pair uses the question sentence frame provided by the teacher to make an
Include one inferential question about character. For example, Q frame: WH + helper verb +
example subject + verb +_______? “Why did Karana struggle to decide about making a
weapon?” They write the inferential question that they made onto their
digital document record sheet.
Then, the pair infers the reasons for the character’s thoughts, actions, or feelings
by using details in the story plus relevant prior knowledge. The pair develops an
answer to their question that explains the
inference they made. They use the answer sentence frame provided by the
teacher. For example, A frame:
Subject + verb + conjunction + subject + verb + ___ . “Karana struggled because
she was afraid of breaking the rule of her tribe.” The answer must include a
sentence that quotes the story. The pair uses a quote sentence starter to help them
quote the text in a sentence. For example, According to the
text______. According to the text, “her tribe forbade women from making
weapons.” In addition, the pair writes all 5 Q&As in a poster they make on a
digital document that they post on the whole class Padlet for
the novel to present to their classmates.
Materials The assigned page(s) of the story, a device for writing inferential Q&As on a
digital document and making a digital poster, a hard copy/digital record sheet
with sentence frames, illustrated vocabulary poster, access to class Padlet for
Island of the Blue Dolphins, Inferential question starter cards: Why did...
What caused... How did
Sentence Frames:
Q frame: WH + helper verb + subject + verb+____?
A frame: Subject + verb + conjunction + subject + verb + ___ .
Quote sentence starters
The author wrote________. According to the text_________.
On page__ it said__________. One example from the text is____________.

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*Instruction to Support Learning – what the teacher does
LAUNCH/HOOK I help students remember what they’ve learned and I activate students’ prior knowledge
Describe how you about the topic by helping them remember what an inferential question is. I will then
open the lesson. ask the students to define what an inferential question is. We will also review what a
quote is and how we can use them to expand our answers. I will display a vocabulary
chart to help with further understanding and explanations of inferential questions. We
will also recall the events taking place in Chapter 9 of the text. I will display an
illustration of the burned village and Karana on the rock to open up more room for
discussion. I will have students utilize the “think, pair, share” mode of instruction in
groups to gather information about the text so far. I will also activate their background
knowledge about quotes by asking them about what they remember about what a quote
is as well as discussing the definition on the vocabulary chart.

I create interest in the learning goal topic and create a positive learning environment by
telling the students that they are doing a great job learning to help themselves
comprehend the stories that they read. I use positive reinforcement and applaud the
students for doing their good work to understand the stories that we have been reading.
We can play “detective” by putting on our detective hats to find information in the text
in order to answer our inferential questions. I will hook the students by playing a
detective theme song and have everyone put on their imaginary hats. This will engage
students to make it more fun because it helps them feel as if they are a part of the story
and able to creatively think.

I clearly set learning expectations of the lesson by explaining what I expect them to be
able to do and know by the end of the lesson. I will tell students what we are going to
learn in today's lesson. “Today we are going to learn about another comprehension
strategy called the questioning strategy to help ourselves comprehend the story. By the
end of the lesson, you will be able to ask and answer inferential questions for a passage
of the story. For example, you will be able to ask an inferential question about how the
character thinks, acts, feels as they do in the story.

I formatively assess background knowledge. I ask questions about my students’ prior

learning related to the topic and listen to their answers. I find out what my students
remember & what they already know that they can build on in this lesson. For example,
some potential questions that I can ask are the following:
-What is an inferential question?
-How is an inferential question different from a regular question?
-What is a quote?
-How do we find quotes in a story?

MODELED I show the students how I perform the learning goal by modeling the learning activity. I
("I Do")  demonstrate every step of the learning activity that students will be expected to do. I
Describe how you will explain that being able to use the questioning strategy to ask and answer inferential
explain and questions about the text helps us have a better comprehension of the story.
model the
strategy for the

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students while I will further explain that an inferential question can focus on why something happens.
students watch. Today we are going to be focusing on the character Karana and what they wonder about
why the character Karana thinks/acts/feels as they do on their assigned page of the
story.

I will then show the students a specific page of the text and display it on the
overhead/tv to show them how I read the passage and my thought process as an
example. I will go over the sentence frame and how I answer it using vocabulary so that
they have a clear understanding of what we are doing. For example, Q frame: WH +
helper verb + subject + verb +_______? I will model how to use the passage of the
story to come up with a question such as, “Why did Karana struggle to decide about
making a weapon?” I will show them a passage that I have selected on the overhead/tv
from chapter 9 of the novel. As I read a couple of sentences from the passage, I will talk
about what they say, for example, I can say “this passage shows that Karana is
struggling to decide if she should make a weapon or not. She feels conflicted.” I will
then tell the students that this passage makes me wonder why Karana feels that way. I
will show students how this type of wondering helps us develop inferential questions. I
will point to the question starter cards and show students how to use the question
starters to develop an inferential question. For example, if I point to the question starter,
“Why does…” I can demonstrate how you can use this question starter to develop an
inferential question related to what I am wondering. For example, “Why does Karana
feel conflicted about making a weapon?” I will also reference the question frames
and show them how these can help make sure that the structure of the question is
correct. I will then model how to write this question digitally so students can easily
transfer it to the padlet. Using the sentence starters as well as referencing the sentence
frames will help students how to write the questions correctly. I will also take the
opportunity to support EL’s by making sure they understand that in the verb “does feel”
the first part of the verb is the helper verb which is “does” and the next part of the verb
is the main verb which is “feel”. I will explain how this question structure makes the
subject “Karana” notable because it goes in between the helper verb and the main verb.

I will demonstrate my thinking of how to answer this question by using information

from the text. I will use the “think-aloud” technique to help students become aware of
my active thinking process as I perform the learning goal activity. I focus on the details
from the passage that help me to figure out why Karana is feeling this way. I focus on
the character traits about why the character thinks/acts/feels as they do in the assigned
page of the story. I will review the sentence frame with the students before reading the
same passage out of the book. I will model how to use the passage of the story to come
up with an answer to the inferential question they came up with. I will read out loud that
same passage with the students and pause in moments that I believe are important that
could help me with the answer to my inferential question. I will point out important
details that I am to pay attention to.

This will model how to answer an inferential question using text evidence. I will be
modeling how to answer the question: Why does Karana feel conflicted about making a
weapon?
I will explain to the students that I use the details from the text and my own knowledge
(in my head) to make a conclusion (inference) about why she is feeling this way.

I will state, “When I put my detective hat on, I can see that I can find story details on
page 27 to find clues to answer my question (point to page 27 digital file) as well as

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 clues in my own knowledge. My clues from the passage show me that the law of the
village did not allow women to make weapons. I tell the students that my own
knowledge tells me that it can be hard to go against the rules. I draw an inference that
maybe she felt conflicted because it was hard for her to go against this rule in her
village. So Karana decides to look for some weapons that might have been left behind.
However, nothing turns up in the village or the canoes by the cliff. So we can see that
Karana is struggling to make a weapon because she has only ever seen her father make
one. Reading further, we find more clues that she is afraid of getting hurt.” She says
“Well what if I cut myself or a rock falls on me while looking for something sharp”. I
tell the students that my own knowledge tells me that when I am afraid of getting hurt,
it makes me not want to do it. I draw an inference by taking clues from the story and
explaining how Karana felt conflicted because she was afraid that she would get hurt if
she made the weapon.

After modeling my thinking process I will demonstrate how to use the sentence frame
to answer the question. I will point out the academic language (vocabulary and
grammar) and the academic language supports (illustrated vocabulary chart, sentence
frames) that I use while performing the learning goal activity and I help students
understand the academic language. To do this, I will pull up the Padlet and model how
to create a new posting and make sure students know how to write an appropriate title
for when they post on the Padlet. “Class we need to be mindful that we need to restate
our question in our response. I am going to begin my answer by writing: Karana
struggles when deciding to make a weapon because…” I will then share that we need to
then pull our evidence and quotes that we had previously mentioned about why Karana
feels this way. I will tell them that this step is very important in their answer because
without their evidence, they have no proof of their answer. I will complete my answer
by adding: “the law of the village did not allow women to make weapons.” Then I will
finish up by posting my response to Padlet and by showing the students on the Smart
Board the way you submit your answer. I will help differentiate between the title section
and the content section and make sure students use both sections appropriately.

After demonstrating how we answer an inferential question based on text evidence, I

will introduce them to the digital document that we will be working on called padlet.
I will review with them how we can create a new poster on Padlet with our partner to be
able to later share with the whole class. I will create my own post with them so that
they have an example that they can always refer back to.

I formatively assess (checking for understanding) periodically, while demonstrating the

strategy, I ask the students questions to check for their understanding based on the
criteria of the lesson. I see if they can repeat a key point I make. I prompt them to
complete a statement that I start. I ask them to repeat in choral response, I start a
sentence and see if they can finish it. I have students repeat back to me what I have said.
I listen to their responses to determine if they are understanding what I am showing
them and if they understand the academic language needed to talk about the
components of the story. If I find that they are understanding, then I move on. If I find
that they are not understanding, then I will adjust my instruction to provide the help that
they need to make sure they understand.

SHARED I invite the students to help me use the strategy.

("We Do")  I invite the students to perform the learning goal together with me by helping me do the
learning activity. I lead them to do every step of the learning goal activity with me. I use

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Describe how you questions & think/pair/share to engage students in the thinking processes needed to
invite, lead, successfully perform the learning goal activity.
prompt students
to do the strategy First, I tell the students that I need my detective partners to help me develop another
together with you. inferential question for a passage of the text.
We will read from the beginning of Chapter 9 up until the line that states, “There was
nothing to take away with me except a basket of food.” As we read to this point, I will
stop at the line: “I do remember the day I decided I would never live in the village
again.” I will ask them to think about what is happening, why Karana does not want to
live in the village anymore, how can we describe the way Karaana is feeling, what do
we wonder about what is happening. Other lines I will stop at to ask similar questions
include:
- “It was a morning of quick fog…” What kind of feeling does the village have
on this day? What do we wonder about the townspeople? What does Karana
notice about the village?
- “I sat for a long time, seeing these shapes and hearing those voices, until the
sun came out and the fog vanished.”Why did Karana wait for the sun to rise and
the fog to clear?
- “Then I made a fire against the wall of the house…” What is Karana doing?
Why is she burning the house down? What made Karana want to do this? What
do you wonder about why she is doing this?

Based on the passages we have read already I will explain to the students that we can
come up with additional inferential questions about the text using our sentence frames.
To guide the class, I will spark their ideas by asking if they can create a “why” question
about Karana’s memories.After reading the passage, I will tell them to talk with their
shoulder partner about anything they are wondering. While they are talking with their
shoulder partners, I will display the sentence starters and frames we viewed previously.
I will tell them to start their “I wonder” statement using the sentence frames provided.
During this time I will walk around to check-in to see what kind of academic questions
and discussions the detectives are coming up with to formally assess them.
After allowing them to discuss with each other I will redirect the class to focus as a
whole. I will ask for volunteers and use ClassDojo to randomly call on students to share
the inferential questions they have created for the passage we are discussing.

For example: “What does Karana do to the village when the memories of her past
begin to torment her?”
Some potential inferential questions students come come up with would be:
- Why does Karana feel tormented by her past?
- Why does Karana burn down her village?
- Why does Karana decide to specifically sleep on a high rock?

Once I hear a few examples from the class, we will choose one question and answer it
as a class on Padlet. When we have decided on a question to answer, I will model and
they will help guide me in the process of answering the question with text evidence. I
will explain that using the sentence frame is a good tool to use but we must support
every answer with evidence.

If we were to choose “Why does Karana decide to specifically sleep on a high rock”
some answers students could support their answer with from the text on page 27 could
be:

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 - Karana makes a new home west of Coral Cove. Her new home is on a large
rock.
- When she sleeps on the rock she is far away from the dogs, has a place to store
food, has shelter from the wind, and a place to sleep.
- “There was a large rock on the headland and two stunted trees. Behind the rock
was a clear place about ten steps across, which was sheltered from the wind,
from which I could see the harbor and the ocean. A spring of water flowed from
the ravine near by” (pg.26/27)

With these possible answer choices that the students could provide. I will share how we
need to restate the question and provide our evidence. For example we would state:
Karana decides to specifically sleep on a high rock because Karana shares, “the rock
was a safe space to store the food I had brought with me and everything I should
gather.” I will highlight the part of the sentence that I restated and I will use a different
highlighted color to show the part that includes text evidence. I will tell them that good
detectives support their answers with evidence from the text.

Once we have modeled the instruction as a class, we will upload our answer to the class
Padlet.. Students will be able to again use this Padlet response as a resource for when
they begin working on their own individual and partner work.

I formatively assess (checking for understanding). As students help me to perform the

strategy, I ask the students questions about what to do based on the criteria of the
lesson. I listen and watch to see if they understand what to do and how to do it. In
addition, I ask students a question to talk about with their partner (think/pair/share). As
they talk with their partner, I check for understanding based on the lesson criteria by
listening in to their conversations and as they share out.
GUIDED I facilitate the students engaging in the student learning activity to practice using the
PRACTICE strategy.
("You Do") Students work together in pairs.
Describe how you Desired Product:
engage student By the end of the activity, students make 6 inferential questions and answers about the
pairs/groups in story, Island of the Blue Dolphins. They present these Q&As in a poster on a digital
the activity to document that they post on the whole class Padlet for the novel.
practice the What the Students Do: Using a digital version of the story, Island of the Blue Dolphins,
strategy. Describe each pair of students reads/listens to the page from the story assigned to them. They
how you support focus on the character and what they wonder about why the character thinks/acts/feels
and monitor them as they do in the assigned page of the story. The pair selects one of the inferential
as they work. question starter cards to help them form an inferential question about this. For example,
“Why did...?” The pair uses the question sentence frame provided by the teacher to
make an inferential question about character. For example, Q frame: WH + helper verb
+ subject + verb +_______? “Why did Karana struggle to decide about making a
weapon?” They write the inferential question that they made onto their digital document
record sheet. Then, the pair infers the reasons for the character’s thoughts, actions, or
feelings by using details in the story plus relevant prior knowledge. The pair develops
an answer to their question that explains the inference they made. They use the answer
sentence frame provided by the teacher. For example, A frame:
Subject + verb + conjunction + subject + verb + ___ . “Karana struggled because she
was afraid of breaking the rule of her tribe.” The answer must include a sentence that
quotes the story. The pair uses a quote sentence starter to help them quote the text in a
sentence. For example, According to the text______. According to the text, “her tribe

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 forbade women from making weapons.” In addition, the pair writes all 5 Q&As in a
poster they make on a digital document that they post on the whole class Padlet for
the novel to present to their classmates.
Materials:
The assigned page(s) of the story, a device for writing inferential Q&As on a digital
document and making a digital poster, a hard copy/digital record sheet with sentence
frames, illustrated vocabulary poster, access to class Padlet for Island of the Blue
Dolphins, Inferential question starter cards: Why did...
What caused... How did
Sentence Frames:
Q frame: WH + helper verb + subject + verb+____?
A frame: Subject + verb + conjunction + subject + verb + ___ .
Quote sentence starters
The author wrote________. According to the text_________.
On page__ it said__________. One example from the text is____________.
The students engage in the following activity…

While students are working, I provide guidance and support as the students work
together with their partners to come up with their .... questions. I visit the partners as
they work and check in to see with them to provide them guidance and support.
I provide guidance by helping them follow the instructions/steps for the activity. Also, I
prompt them to remember what they saw me do during modeling and what we did
together. I help them remember the steps to take. I re-demonstrate any small part of the
process that they would like to see again.
I support them by helping them work together to apply the skills and academic language
that they need to create the questions and answers. I make sure they use their resources
(e.g., book, sentence frames, etc.) and I answer their questions. I encourage them and
praise the parts of the strategy that they are doing correctly. If I notice mistakes or
confusions, I address them directly, providing immediate feedback and giving
additional instruction/examples as needed.

I formatively assess (monitoring progress). As the students work with their

partners/groups, I go around to the students and ask questions based on the criteria to
elicit student responses. Also, I ask students to show me how they do it. I observe
student performance of the task with their partners and assess how well they are doing it
based on the lesson criteria. I observe their performance using the criteria. I have a list
of students’ names and my criteria checklist on a clipboard so I can take notes as I
observe them using the Questioning Strategy to create questions and answers for the
story. I observe their performance of the strategy and use the criteria to assess how well
they can do it. For example, I look to see if they are... If I notice that they are having
any difficulties, I give them immediate feedback and provide them with additional
support to be successful. I ask them criteria-based questions. As the students work with
their partners, I go around to the students and ask questions based on the criteria to
elicit student responses. I ask students questions to monitor their progress using the
Questioning Strategy. For example, I will ask questions such as... I listen to their
answers to these questions to determine if they are successful in using this strategy. If I
find something that they don’t know, I provide them prompts, feedback and additional
instruction as needed to support their work.

CLOSURE I review & summarize the main points learned in the lesson to achieve/perform the
learning goal.

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Describe how you
close the lesson.  I review the key ideas of the lesson by: I will gather the students back together as a
whole group. I will review with the students the key ideas from the lesson. I will state
the main idea clearly by explaining how we were able to use our detective skills to
create inferential questions and answer them using text evidence.

I will ask them to share what they did by pulling up the padlet on the smart board. For
example, I will have each group explain their post and what detective strategies they
used to explain and support their inferences.

Finally, I will remind them that this questioning strategy can help us better understand
the stories that we read. It helps us to know what to look for and what to focus on when
reading. Inferential questions help us explain key details from the text to better
understand how the character thinks, acts, and feels.

I formatively assess by: during closure, I ask questions based on the lesson criteria to
find out what students have learned.

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