Paula Acevedo

September 16, 2015

Teaching Reading: Mini Lesson Format (Calkins, 2001)

Targeted Literacy Strategy or Skill:
Using context clues to crack open vocabulary
Grade level: 3rd Grade
Objective: The student will be able to identify unfamiliar words by using context clues in the sentence
they are reading.
Common Core State Standard/ PASS Standard:
PASS Standard 2:1 Words in Context Use clues (the meaning of the text around the word) to
determine the meaning of grade-level appropriate words.
2:3 Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms/ Homophones Determine the meaning of words
using knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms/ homophones, and multiple meaning words.
Prior knowledge: (What students already know)
Students already know Tier 1 words and understand simple sentences.

Observations/Rationale: (Before Lesson) What did you notice in your students work that let you
know this lesson was necessary? (This will be an approximation this semester.)
I noticed when we had read aloud that the students would ask questions about certain words. And the
students would ask about the unfamiliar words in the book we had read.

Materials Needed:
Lesson from (Name your source including page number)
Inferring the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words, STW p.139-140
Mentor Text:
Materials: Book/text. Example, Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman, by Louise Borden &
Mary Kay Kroeger
A four-column think sheet titled Word/Inferred Meaning/ Clues/ Sentence and a chart with the
same titles.
Pencil
Smart board (maybe)
Student Groups (whole/small group/partners):
You can start off with whole groups and once students get the concept they can break up into small
groups and work together.

Mini Lesson Format:

Connect (AKA~ Anticipatory Set, Engagement/Pre-reading):
Very often students will read with an unfamiliar word in the sentence. In this will cause trouble
understanding what they are reading and will not understand what is going on the text/book they
are reading.

Teach (Model/Explain)
I will begin by reading Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman to the class as a read aloud. Then,
after the reading I will the students if there were any unfamiliar word they did not understand.
After, I will create the four-column sheet title Word/ Inferred Meaning/ Clues/ Sentence on the
Smart board, if provided. And students will create the same chart on their own piece of paper.
Then, we will go over the unfamiliar words and start filling in the chart. After, I will demonstrate
by filling out the first column we will find an unfamiliar word, for example; Word: Pullman
porter, Inferred Meaning: Railroad worker who carries bags and helps passengers. Clues:
Picture, Sentence: The Pullman porter helped the women off the train.

Active Engagement (AKA~ Check for Understanding: students try it out, teacher observes):
After, I discussed how to fill in the chart; I will break up the students into small groups. Then, I
will assign each group two pages to go over and identify the unfamiliar words. While the students
are in groups I will walk around the classroom to make sure they understand what they are doing.
After, twenty minutes have passed each group will present what they came up with and I will fill
in the chart I created so the whole class can learn what the other students came up with.

Link (AKA~ Closing the Lesson [with accountability for the skill/process])
Today the students learned how to use context clues to help the students define unfamiliar words. I
am going to assign a book for the students to read a book on their own and create the same start so
they practice identifying unfamiliar words using context clues.