ED 345 Calvin College Lesson Planning Form for Differentiating Instruction

Teacher: Beth Kusserow

Date: 1 October, 2015

Subject/ Topic/ Theme: English/Reading/Fables

I. Objectives
What is the main focus of this lesson? The students do not all have the same focus for this lesson. They will switch off reading new
fables, revising a piece of writing with me, practicing their spelling words, and working with the ou/ow phonics pattern. In addition,
we will spend some time focusing on plural nouns.
How does this lesson tie in to a unit plan? The students read new fables so that later on we can work with them - continued
exposure. The spelling has some unit words in it, but mostly is independent, as is the word work. Plural nouns come after nouns
and proper nouns, and before series of nouns. This lesson is very similar to the previous day, as the students continue around the
centers until they have completed them all. We will expand on the plural noun learning that we did the previous day.
What are your objectives for this lesson? (As many as needed.) Indicate connections to applicable national or state standards. If
an objective applies to only certain students write the name(s) of the student(s) to whom it applies.
1) Students will read a new fable on their reading level with a friend.
2) Students will polish a piece of writing, focusing on creating good sentences and using good grammar and punctuation.
3) Students will review their spelling words in a variety of ways with a whiteboard.
4) Students will identify the sound and distinguish between ou and ow in words.
5) Students will organize plural nouns on a poster according to their spelling pattern (-es, -s, -ies)
II. Before you start
Prerequisite knowledge and skills.

Assessment
(formative and summative)

Identify those students (individuals

or groups) in your class who will
need special attention and
describe the level of support you
plan on giving them. Refer back to
the survey you did of your class.

Materials-what materials (books,

handouts, etc) do you need for this
lesson and do you have them?

Do you need to set up your

classroom in any special way for
this lesson? If so, describe it.

Students have been introduced to what a fable is. They are familiar with the system of
centers, and can work independently at them. They know how to write good sentences,
though revising may be a new skill for them. They know what nouns and proper nouns are.
The students monitor their own learning at spelling, reading, and word work.
I will assess the students writing as they revise it, and [Mrs. Smith] will read it later for a
grade.
Work done together as a group in their workbooks will be checked as a formative assessment
immediately.
The work with nouns at the end will be assessed just by my observation - do they seem to
understand it?
[Charlie], [Marissa], [Jada], and [Kimberly] are at the F reading level from Reading A-Z.
[Charlie]s fine motor skills are weak, so revising his writing could be a struggle for him.
None of the others in the class indicated that English was hard for them at school on their
surveys.
The leveled books need to be in the appropriate reading level baskets.
The students will need their English journals to revise their writing.
The spelling station should have whiteboards, markers, erasers, spelling prompts, and a
spelling list.
The word work station should have the laminated worksheets with markers and magic
erasers.
For nouns, I will need a poster paper and markers to organize plural nouns.
As always, with a whiteboard by the morning carpet to tape up the nouns poster.

III. The Plan

Time
Parts
8:00 8:05

Motivation
(Opening/
Introduction/
Engagement)

8:05 8:20 for

the first
rotation

The description of (script for) the lesson, wherein you describe teacher activities and student
activities
Once the students are gathered at the English carpet, I will let the students know that we have English
centers again today.
-The reading group will be reading some new fables - they are in the baskets. Pay attention to the
moral at the end, if there is one! Remember EEKK.
-The word work will be at the yellow table, where they will learn about the OW/OU sound. There will
be the words written with ou and the words written with ow, and they will divide them up and then
write them on their laminated sheets.
-The phonics group will be doing your spelling work over where they always do, remember to show me
your work before moving on to playing hangman.
-The writing group will get their writing journals, a pencil, and chair, and come work with me at the
back table there.
Any questions? I will ask the students to go back to their desks while I assign groups. Then I let them
go.
Reading: The students read their new fable books with a classmate. After they finish, they can read
other books quietly until the rotation is over.
Word Work: The students organize the laminated work cards according to the spelling pattern of ow
or ou. After they have organized them (or one by one, if they choose to take turns), they write the
words on a laminated worksheet according to the spelling pattern.

Development

Phonics: The students take a whiteboard, marker, eraser, and spelling list. Then they choose a card
from a collection for instructions of how to write their words (ABC order, fancy letters, rainbow colors,
rhyming words, etc.). When they are finished, they may choose to do another or play hangman with a
friend.
Writing: The students will take out the writing work that they did the previous week, and edit it with
my support and the help of the Writers Eye posters close by. They check for capital letters and correct
punctuation. We will also work on making the sentences more delicious with who, what, when,
where, and why aspects. I will support and guide, but allow them to make any corrections, as the work
will be graded.

8:20 8:40 for

the
second
rotation

At the end of the first center, I will switch the assignment cards in the pocket chart up front, then ring
the bell. The students will have a few minutes to clean up before transitioning to the next center.

8:40 8:45

After the second rotation, I will have all the students come back to their desks and give them bug
awards to a quiet, hard working group. Then I will ask who read a new fable book today. I will ask one
from each group to share what the fable from their book was. If they need to run get the book to
remember, thats okay. They will share it with the class and then write it on our poster. Then a
representative from the other group can do the same.

8:45 8:55

When both morals have been written on the poster, I ask the students to join me on the morning
carpet. After reminding them to follow rug rules and keep their eyes on me, I ask them if they
remember what we learning with nouns yesterday. I may prompt them by saying plural nouns. Then
I remind them that in the video we watched, some plural nouns just need an -s at the end, others
need -es and others need -ies. I want them to think of some words to start with that we just add
an -s to. As they volunteer words, I write the original and the plural in a stack. Ill ask for everyone to
say a word for each category, reminding them that we add -es to words that end in ch, sh, x, s, or z,
and -ies to those that ended in y.

8:55 9:10

If we have time, I will ask the students to all head back to their desks, and for the supplies helpers to
get out grammar books. We can turn to and complete page 32, then get ready for break.

- 9:10

Closure

Centers: B.U.G. awards and writing fables on our poster

Nouns: Review page in the grammar book (p. 32).

Your reflection on the lesson including ideas for improvement for next time:
After listening to [Mrs. Smith]s advice on how to keep the centers running smoothly, this lesson went infinitely better. The
students got right to work and stayed working, so B.U.G. Awards were actually deserved!
The students had a fun time adding plurals to the poster. It might go better next time if I have them writing their own on sticky
notes and then adding them all at once. This could keep more of them more engaged for longer. It may be harder to make sure
they spell the plural correctly, but we could look over them at the end and make any corrections. Or students could write the
singular and guess whether it fit in the s, -es, or ies category (again with sticky notes), and then we could move any around that
were wrongly placed.