Literacy Strategies

Lesson Plan Two

Jordan Johnson
EDUC 412
September 13, 2014

Scenario
Pleasant View High School is located in a suburban town in Illinois. It has about 2,000 students,
and is home to grades nine through twelve. The demographics of the school consist of mostly
Caucasian students but due to a recent influx of refugees from unrest in Laos, a large population
of Hmong students also make up the student body. Most of these Hmong students are English
Language Learners. The neighborhood surrounding the school is fairly affluent and safe. Ms.
Johnson has 6 classes total during her school day, but her class for this particular lesson is all
freshman. The school day is split into eight periods and Ms. Johnson has her freshman during the
first period, which goes from 7:30am to 8:25am. Her class has 24 students in it and they have
just begun their second academic quarter in late October. The classroom is made up of rows of
rectangular tables each seating two students and facing the whiteboards in the front of the room.
Ms. Johnsons desk is in the back corner of the room, and in the opposite corner are a few
bookshelves containing the classes library.
Performance Objective
Students will first act out a summary of the pervious chapter in order to activate their prior
knowledge about what has happened so far in the story. Students will then be given a reading
roadmap worksheet and they will read along with a recording of Of Mice and Men chapter two,
working through the road map as a class. They will then read silently while they work on the rest
of the roadmap alone and then discuss it in their table groups before going through the different
answers students came up with as a class. Students will then complete a discussion web and then
discuss their webs with someone who has an opposing viewpoint. Through the two literacy
strategies that I will utilize, a reading road map and a discussion web, I hope to accommodate for
Common Core Standard #1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of
what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
.
Rationale
Students need to learn these literacy strategies so that they will have scaffolding to help them
understand more complex texts in the future. According to Common Core, they also need to be
able to cite specific information from the text as well as make inferences based on what the text
implies. The road map literacy strategy requires students to answer some questions that come
straight from the text and also asks them to answer more abstract questions that require them to
think past what is explicitly said in the text. The discussion web also promotes student inferencemaking by asking them to think about a text from two different viewpoints while finding specific
evidence in the text to support both of those viewpoints. After they have found their evidence for
both sides, they are asked to evaluate the information and come to a conclusion. Finding
evidence in a text to support a claim and also being able to infer things from a text are skills that
students need to work on developing so they can use them on more complex readings in the
future.
Materials
*25 copies of Of Mice and Men

*25 copies of Of Mice and Men reading road map

*25 copies of Of Mice and Men discussion webs
*25 blank 4x6 notecards
*2 copies of Of Mice and Men Summary Script
Accommodations for Exceptional Learners
For my English Language Learner students, listening to the book on tape while following along
will help them to not get confused and give them time to look ahead to the discussion questions.
Stopping the tape to give the students time to answer the questions as we go will also be helpful
to them so that they will have enough time to answer the questions. If they do not understand a
question or an answer, they will have the opportunity to either ask, or figure it out from the class
discussion or the group discussions. They can also be allowed to only answer two of the four
road map questions while they are reading individually so that they will not fall behind. They
will also not have to fill up all of the discussion web boxes with information, but they will be
required to fill in one on each side.
Academic Language
a. Evaluate
b. Students will learn to evaluate information that is present in the text through using terms such
as evaluate, implicit, explicit, prediction, inference, and evidence. Knowledge of these academic
terms will help students to be able to understand how to make a decision or a prediction based on
information provided in a text, both implicitly and explicitly.
c. Vocabulary and Discourse.
Students will need to have the ability to discuss and discover inferred aspects of a text, and look
beyond what the text overly says. For this they will need the additional language function of
discourse.
Grouping Strategy
Students will read along with the recording and road map activity individually, but then will
reconvene as a group to discuss the answers to the high-level thinking response questions. Then
the class will come together to share the answers that they all got. Students will then individually
fill out a discussion web, but will then be placed in a group or partnership with someone with an
opposing viewpoint to discuss why each student picked each option on the discussion web.
Assessment Strategy
Students will be assessed informally as Ms. Johnson works her way around the groups and pairs
as they are discussing the roadmap questions and their respective discussion webs. She will be
looking for students to be actively participating and talking to their groups or partners, and
checking to make sure they have accurate information. At the end of class, a more formal
assessment will be given in the form of a two-minute essay on a notecard asking the students to

relate a class activity to a real life situation. They will also be asked to hold up one-five fingers to
demonstrate how comfortable they are with their understanding of chapter two of Of Mice and
Men.
Enactment
Hook
Students file into class and take their seats. Ms. Johnson asks if two of her students want to read
a scripted summary of the interaction between George and Lennie that happened in chapter one
in order to summarize for the students what happened in the story the previous day.
Students read script aloud and act it out in-front of the class.
(8 minutes)
Student Aim
(5 minutes)
Ms. Johnson watches while the students act out a summary of chapter one. She wants to
summarize the chapter for the students so that they will remember the previous days reading and
have a greater chance of connecting it to todays reading. The summary skit is short and the
students get into it and make it goofy.
Ms. Johnson: Thanks Jenny and Matt. Can anyone tell me what this skit was about?
Student: It was of the first chapter of Of Mice and Men that we read yesterday!
Ms. Johnson: Today were going to continue with the story. Weve been talking a lot about
migrant workers in class, can anyone remind the class what a migrant worker is?
Student: During the Great Depression, people didnt have jobs, so they would just wander around
and look for work and when the finished the work, they just moved on to another job.
Ms. Johnson: What did these men usually take with them?
Student: They didnt really take anything with them. They just went from place to place. It said
in the first chapter that George and Lennie had bindles with them, but that was it.
Ms. Johnson: What do George and Lennie have with them that is unusual for migrant workers?
Student: They have each other. Usually migrant workers just went places alone.
Ms. Johnson: Yes they travel together, what else do they have that is not typical for migrant
workers?
Student: They have a goal to save money and buy their own land.
Ms. Johnson: From what weve read, do you think working on this ranch is a good place for
them to do that? Keep this question in mind while we begin chapter two!

Development
(15 minutes)
Ms. Johnson hands out road maps to students, gives each student an Of Mice and Men copy and
heads to the front of the room
Ms. Johnson: We are going to pick up where we left off yesterday, the start of chapter two in Of
Mice and Men, starting on page 24. Lets all flip to that page, and while the recording plays
were going to fill out what is called a Reading Road Map. This will help us keep track of the
things that are happening in the story and find ways to connect them to things that are already in
our brain, our prior knowledge. At a few certain points, I will pause the recording and have you
answer a question on your road map. Everyone ready?
Students: Yes!
Ms. Johnson starts the recording and then opens her own book to model following along while
the recording plays for the students. At the location of the first question, Ms. Johnson stops the
recording.
Ms. Johnson: Okay everyone look at question number one on the sheet. Will someone read it
aloud?
Student: What does Carlson want to do to Candys dog?
Ms. Johnson: Okay, take a minute to answer this question. When you are done with your put
your pencil down so I know when to start the recording.
Continue on the road map with the recording, pausing for each reading comprehension question.
When the road map moves into higher level questions for numbers 5, 6, and 7 Ms. Johnson stops
the tape.
Ms. Johnson: Were going to read silently to ourselves now, and do our best to follow the
directions on the road. When you get to the stop signs, stop and answer the questions. In a few
minutes we will reconvene as a group, and discuss the answers you had to the questions in our
table groups.
(8 minutes)
Students read silently while Ms. Johnson walks around quietly in-between the table groups.
Students finish reading and begin writing, and eventually begin discussing the answers that they
came up with to the higher level thinking questions on the road map.
Ms. Johnson: I heard some really great things being discussed, would any table like to share what
they came up with for question 5?

Student: The ranch means so much to the men because they have something to save up for and
something to try for, instead of just going out every weekend and spending all of their money
like they would if they had nothing to save it up for.
Student: It also gives them a reason to work, its like a goal they want to achieve and they can
only achieve it by working well to get the money they need.
Ms. Johnson: What about question 6?
Student: I think Candy says this because he feels guilty. The dog meant a lot to him and I think
that he just felt like he should have been the one to take responsibility for putting it out of its
misery, instead of just pushing it off to someone else who did not care about the dog at all.
Ms. Johnson: Question 7?
Student: Curley isnt going to tell anyone because he doesnt want to get made fun of for having
his hand crushed so easily by Lennie.
Ms. Johnson: Did any of the groups have a different answer to one of the questions that they
want to bring up with the group
Student: Yes, to go off of what was said for number 7, Curley doesnt want his reputation ruined
so hes not going to speak up because of his pride.
Ms. Johnson: All of this knowledge coming from you is really awesome, look at all of the
connections that you are making to figure out answers to questions that are not explicitly in the
text. Im about to pass out one more thing that is going to help us work through the reading for
today. The worksheet I am passing out is called a Discussion Web. Will someone volunteer to
read the directions aloud?
Student: Read the main question. Then using evidence from the text, think of some reasons to
support both of the options. Then write a sentence or two in the conclusion space when you have
decided which answer to the question makes the most sense based on the evident that you
gathered below.
Ms. Johnson: Okay, so you are going to take the information that you are given in the text, and
evaluate it to make a decision.
Students will work on their discussion webs
(10 minutes)
Ms. Johnson: Once you are done, I would like those of you who thought that George and Lennie
should stay on the ranch to go on the side of the classroom that has the sign STAY, and those who
think that they should leave the ranch to stand under the sign LEAVE. Bring a piece of notebook
paper with you. Once everyone is on a side I will pair you up or groups you with someone from
the opposite side. I would like you to discuss the reasons why you chose what you chose, and if
your group members mention something you dont have written down, feel free to write it on the
notebook paper.

Students are grouped up, and Ms. Johnson walks around the room listening to the discussion and
assessing general student understanding.
Culmination
(2 minutes)
Ms. Johnson: Nice work in class today, you all did a very good job at following the reading
roadmaps and learning how to evaluate some of the major events in the story with your
discussion webs. This was really important to help all of us get a better understanding of Of Mice
and Men. I would like everyone to hold up fingers for me to show how much they felt like they
understood the reading today, with five fingers begin youve got it down and one finger being
you have no idea what happened in the reading.
Students raise their hands holding up various numbers, and Ms. Johnson takes a mental note of
the students who held up a three or below.
Leap
(5 minutes)
Ms. Johnson: I am passing out notecards to each table. On the notecard, I would like you to write
a quick sentence or two talking about why looking at two sides of an important issue is important
to do before you make a final judgment on the issue. Think of our discussion web activity and
deciding if George and Lennie should stay on the ranch or move on. Why is it important to look
at the evidence for both options before you wrote your conclusion? Tomorrow we will talk more
about the specific relationship between George and Lennie, and work our way through chapter
three. For homework, I would like you to complete question number 10 on your reading road
maps. Have a good rest of your day!