Daily Lesson Plan

Teacher: Sean Flood

Subject: English Language Arts

Lesson Date: 11/3/15

Grade: 8

Agenda:
1. Do now
2. Introduce Collaborative Read Aloud (CRA)
3. Explain Objectives for CRA
4. Read aloud while students listen and make notes
5. Give students the chance to read aloud to the group
6. Explain Writing Task Objectives
7. Writing Task
8. Independent Reading (IR)
9. Exit Ticket

Rationale- Today students will engage with me in a Collaborative Read Aloud. During this time
we will take turns reading a piece out loud while those not reading listen and make notes. The
objective of this exercise is to get students engaged with a piece of text and foster Close Reading
and Close Listening skills within the students.

StandardsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2

Objective- Each student must demonstrate their ability to read closely. The reading portion of
todays lesson will serve to inform the writing task, wherein students will demonstrate close
reading skills such as: determining what the text says, both explicitly and implicitly; questioning
the text; making inferences about the text; and using textual evidence to support not only textual,
but also sub-textual and hyper-textual observations.

Procedure:
-Use Do Now activity to spark group discussion and interest in the topic
-Explain the concept of a CRA to the students, making sure to talk explicitly about the
ways in which this can be applied as a strategy for close reading.
i.e. Today we will be doing a Collaborative Read Aloud. This means that instead
of everyone having a copy of the book and following along as one person reads
aloud, only the reader has a copy of the book and the rest of us will listen and take
notes. These notes should focus on what the text is trying to say, writing down
questions that you have about the text, and making inferences about the text.

-From here the instructor begins to read for a short time before passing the book off to a
student, who will read for a short time before passing the book on to another and so on.
-During the time in which the students are reading the instructor should be sure to
observe the other students to ensure that they are paying attention and taking notes.
-Once the passage has been completed it is time to explain the writing assignment for the
day.
i.e. Today we our writing will be a close reading analysis of the passage that we
just read. You may not realize it, but by taking notes on the topics that we
discussed while we read, you have already been doing a close reading, or in this
case a close listening. For your writing assignment today I would like you to use
your notes to answer one of the questions on this handout. (Handout questions
listed below.)
-Collect writing assignments and transition to independent reading
-Perform reading checks throughout IR time
-Exit tickets

Materials
-A copy of the text used for the CRA
-Writing utensils and paper
-Free read books

Assessments: Most assessment for today occurs naturally through observation during Do
Now, group reading time, group discussions, and independent reading time, but students will be
actively assessed on their writing assignments as well as their reading checks during independent
reading time.

Technology Connections: N/A

Future Connections: This CRA exercise is a great way to introduce the concept of close
reading to students. Many students do not consider themselves to be readers or writers and
therefore are not confident in their ability to read closely. This instruction method allows for
students to perform the steps of a close reading without actually realizing that they are doing it,
which is a great way to get them to understand that doing a close reading is much more simple
than they might think.

Lesson Breakdown:
Do Now- 5 minutes
Discuss CRA- 5 minutes
Discuss Notes to Take During CRA- 3 minutes
CRA- 20 minutes
Explanation of Close Reading- 7 minutes
Introduce Writing Assignment- 5 minutes
Writing Assignment- 15 minute maximum, students who finish early may begin their IR
Independent Reading: minimum 23 minutes
Exit Ticket- 2 minutes

Do Now Question:
What does it mean to do a Close Reading of a text? What do you think of when you here the
term Close Reading?

Writing Assignment:
Answer any one of the following questions:
1. What is one hyper-textual interpretation that you made while listening to todays
reading? In other words, what is one question that you have about the text now that you
have read it? Do you think that the author wants you to be thinking about this? Why or
why not?
2. What is one sub-textual interpretation that you made while listening to todays
reading? In other words, what is one thing that you can infer about the text that was not
explicitly stated? What information within the text leads you to make this inference?

Exit Ticket Question:

Now that you have practiced it are your feelings about Close Reading the same as they were at
the beginning of class? Why or why not?

Acknowledgements:
The core ideas used in this lesson, including the Collaborative Read Aloud and the definitions of
both hyper-textual and sub-textual interpretations were taken from the article Collaborative
Read-Alouds: Engaging Middle School Students in Thoughtful Reading by Susan E ElliottJohns and Enrique A Puig. The full article can be found in the September 2015 issue of Voices
From the Middle and is cited below.

Works Cited
Elliott-Johns, Susan E., and Enrique A. Puig. "Collaborative Read-Alouds: Engaging Middle
School Students in Thoughtful Reading." Voices From the Middle (2015): 26-30. Print.