Unit Plan Leslie Wenrich Theme: All the Fish in the Sea (Fish) Grade Level: First Grade

Rationale: This unit will provide the students with information about fish while integrating reading, writing, and social skills. Motivation/Classroom Management: Students will collect Fabulous Fish Food when they are caught on task, correctly completing assignments, or displaying great classroom community skills. When they can feed their fish 3 foods, they can pick an award from the fishbowl (filled with stickers, Goldfish snacks, Swedish fish, and other fish related items). Lessons will be hands on and steadily paced to prevent opportunity for behaviors. Goals: 1. The students will be able to demonstrate the ability to create 3 tongue twisters using alliteration. 2. Given 10 grade level Dolch sight words, students will be able to isolate initial, medial vowel and final sounds and determine if they match a given sound. 3. Provided a text, the students will apply the 3-2-1 Strategy to figure out main ideas and questions about a text. 4. Students will demonstrate increased awareness of emotions and learn behaviors that foster friendship and kindness by practicing facial expressions, learning each others preferences, and making conscious choices to do kind acts. 5. Students will show that they can organize a list of events in chronological order, using temporal words as sentence starters. 6. Students will work as a team to research different aspects a provided topic (jellyfish). They will teach their portion to other students so everyone has the same information and then work individually to compile their knowledge into proper sentences. 7. Students will practice independently writing an expository essay on an underwater animal of their choice, using a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence.

Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.1.2c Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.1.2d Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence of individual sounds (phonemes). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.1.3b Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.3 Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of how-to books on a given topic and use them to write a sequence of instructions). Instructional Strategies: 1. Students will use multiple intelligences. By being able to utilize knowledge through bodily/kinesthetic, visual, auditory, verbal/linguistic, and special approaches, we can reach more students. By incorporating several learning styles in the unit, we ensure that students have multiple opportunities to create memories about the material. 2. Students will participate in cooperative learning. By working together with partners and groups, students learn how to function in an interpersonal environment. They can strengthen social skills while being introduced to several different viewpoints. It allows them to practice teamwork, delegating, and defining roles within a group. By using small groups and pairs, students have more opportunities to actively participate in lessons. 3. Allowing students to self-assess how well they grasp the material gives the students responsibility and ownership over their own learning. It helps them reflect on what strategies are effective for their own learning styles, and it helps us direct our instruction accordingly. 4. Using Think, Pair, Share allows all students to be actively involved in a lesson. It also allows students time to collect their thoughts and relieve anxiety about being called upon during discussion time. 5. Students will use the Jigsaw method to learn about a topic and share their knowledge with other students. By teaching their peers, they will gain better mastery over the material. This strategy encourages collaboration and critical thinking skills to determine important facts from research material to share with peers.

Technology: Students will use the Smartboard to participate in instruction. They will watch brief video clips on the overhead projector. The internet will be available for students to further research topics of interest. Real World Transfer: Students will learn how to foster friendships through kindness and shared interests. They will develop critical thinking, research, and writing skills that will be useful in many real life applications.

Reading Lesson Plan #1-Alliteration Objectives: After being given several starter words, students will be able to produce 3 sentences using alliteration. Academic Language: alliteration, aquarium, tongue twister, Activities and Procedure: After listening to the teacher read aloud My Visit to the Aquarium by Aliki, students will create their own alliteration tongue twisters about underwater animals. Hook: Read aloud the following tongue twister: If Freaky Fred found fifty fish, and fed forty fish to his friend Frank, how many fish did Freaky Fred find? Introduction: Ask the students if they noticed anything funny about that tongue twister. Did they notice anything that sounded the same? What sound was repeated? Explain that alliteration is when there is a repetition of the same beginning sound. Help the students come up with a definition in their own words. Body: Introduce the book My Visit to the Aquarium and read through it, having the students just focus on enjoying the story. Then return to the topic of alliteration. Have the students listen to you read the story again, but this time, stop at each page and ask them to name an example of alliteration. For a hint, tell them to focus on the S sound. When they hear an alliteration sound, have a student write that initial letter on the Smart Board. Once you have finished reading, have the students brainstorm together to think of different underwater animals. Write those on the Smartboard under the corresponding previously written letters. Closing: Have students come up with 3 of their own tongue twister sentences using some of the underwater animals that they just brainstormed. They can then draw a silly picture to go with each of their tongue twisters. They will then share their tongue twisters with a partner to see if they can add anything on to make it longer. We will reconvene as a whole class and have a few students share their favorites. Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on how well they followed directions and completed the assignment. Their sentences will be judged by accuracy of the concept. This is the introductory lesson to alliteration, so further depth and practice will be developed in the future. They will self evaluate and then write outcome sentences in their personal journals.

Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: The student can dictate their tongue twister to the teacher or aide, rather than write it. If they have penmanship difficulties, they could use the computer keyboard to type up their sentences. Differentiation for student with ADHD: Rather than draw a silly picture, offer the students the opportunity to act out their tongue twisters instead. This provides them an outlet for excessive energy. Extension Activities: The students could write their tongue twisters with a certain goal in mind. For example, they could write a jingle for a commercial, or write a whole song with verses and a chorus. They could also write a different alliteration tongue twister for each letter of the alphabet.

Reading Lesson Plan #2-Fred the Hungry Fish Objectives: Given grade level sight words, students will be able to distinguish the beginning, medial, and final sounds. They will then determine if the sound matches a given sound. Activities and Procedure: The teacher will provide a poster of a fish with a big open mouth with a Ziploc bag attached. The teacher will present a flashcard and Hook: The teacher will show the student a container of sardines or anchovies, knowing that most students will probably view it as unpleasant. Introduction: The teacher will ask the students if there are any foods they dont like. After a few replies, she will introduce Fred the Fish. Body: Fred is a picky fish who only likes words that have certain sounds. For an appetizer, Fred only likes words that begin with the W sound. She will have a small stack of flashcards and have students read each one and then determine whether it is a word that Fred would eat. For the main course, Fred only likes to eat words that have a medial Short E sound. For dessert, Fred only eats words that end in the D sound. When the student correctly identifies a word that Fred will eat, they get up and place the word in the Ziploc bag situated at Freds mouth. Closing: Once Fred is full and all the flashcards have been appropriately placed, do a Clear to Muddy evaluation. Have students group themselves by clear, buggy, or muddy. Allow clear and buggy students to pair up and practice using their own Sight Word Flashcards. Offer more intense review and re-teaching to the muddy group. Evaluation: Anecdotally assess the students and ask questions following the lesson. If a lot of students are muddy, tell them that we will return to the topic at a later time and move on. Follow up with different strategies and practice until students reach mastery. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: Only use lower level sight words that the student has mastered.

Differentiation for student with ADHD: By allowing the student to get up to feed Fred, the students have the opportunity to move around the class a bit. Extension Activities: Have the student come up with their own words that Fred would eat at each meal. Offer other courses (salad, first course, second course, etc) with more challenging sounds or multisyllabic words. Reflection: Fred could be used for many other sorting projects. Examples are math facts, true/false statements, compound words, irregular words, etc.

Reading Lesson Plan #3-Starfish Objectives: Students will read an informative text and ask and answer main topics and important details. Academic Language: tide pool, urchin, shallow Activities and Procedure: Students will read aloud the text in pairs and determine key points and facts using the 3-2-1 Strategy. Hook: Bring in a dried starfish (easily and inexpensively obtained online or in beach gift shops). Introduction: Does anyone know what this is? Does anyone know any facts about starfish that they would be brave enough to share with the class? Today we are going to read a book about starfish and then we are going to go over a new strategy for picking out main ideas from informational texts. Body: Students pair up and read the book aloud together. The students take turns and assist each other in difficult words. If they are still stuck, they ask another pair or ask the teacher who is walking around. The class reconvenes in a large group. The teacher explains that the 321 strategy means we are going to pick out 3 new things we discovered when reading the text, 2 things we found interesting, and then one question we still may have. The teacher talks them through each step, asking for volunteers. Closing: The teacher reviews the 321 strategy, having the students say the components out loud. 3 new facts, 2 interesting ideas, 1 question Evaluation: The students will be evaluated by teacher observation. The students will independently apply the 321 strategy at a later date after more practice. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: The teacher will ensure that the student is paired up with a stronger reader. The student will be given the opportunity to re-read the text.

Differentiation for student with ADHD: When in pairs, the student will stand up while reading. The pair will take turn reading short passages (1 page at a time is good) so the student doesnt lose interest, daydream, or get frustrated. Extension Activities: After the question aspect of 321, the student can use the internet to research for the answer. Student may also use extra time to go to the library to find other related texts to share with the class. Writing Lesson Plan #1-Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark Objectives: Students will read a text and then summarize the series of events in order. Activities and Procedure: The teacher will read the text to the students and have them pair up to summarize the order of events in the story and use sentence strips and a graphic organizer to Hook: Bring in Pout Pout fish (beloved stuffed animal in my house-we own two). Introduction: Ask the students if they are familiar with the Pout Pout Fish. Read them the story. Body: Then, tell them you are going to read it again but that you want them to pay close attention to the order of events. Explain that when you tell a story chronologically, you have to have a beginning, middle, and end. After you are done, ask the students to name some things that happened in the story. If any of the actions are out of order, have them help remember what order they took place in. Use the Smartboard to put up a teacher created worksheet with the following prompts: FirstNextThenFinallyClosing: Ask the students if the story would make sense if it happened in a different order. Now have them imagine they were a Pout Pout fish in the big big dark. What kinds of things would they see and do? Have them write a story using the same prompts (first, next, then, finally). Have them draw a picture of the final scene. Evaluation: Teacher will assess students based on a checklist. Did the student follow directions? Did the student complete the assignment? Did the student put the temporal sentences in the right order? Did the student participate and share in class discussions? Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: The student could be provided with predeveloped story lines and sentence strips. The student can put the sentence strips in the proper order.

Differentiation for student with ADHD: The student with ADHD could also use sentence strips, but have him act out his final scene instead of draw a picture. Extension Activities: Have the students brainstorm other temporal words and incorporate those in their story. Writing Lesson Plan #2-JellyFish Objectives: Students will work together to research trade books for information about jellyfish. Activities and Procedure: Students will use a graphic organizer and the Jigsaw Group technique to learn facts about jellyfish and share them with their peers. Hook: Show the students a video clip of jellyfish http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/invertebrates-kids/jellyfishkids/ Introduction: Have any of you seen a jellyfish in real life? What do you know about jellyfish? Today we are going to learn all about jellyfish together. Body: The teacher will have a stack of various trade books of all levels containing information about jellyfish. They will be divided into four stacks at different stations. The teacher will have students break up in selected groups of 4. They will then count off 1-4. The ones will go to one station, twos to the next, etc. Once in those groups, they will each be assigned an aspect/topic to research and learn about jellyfish. The small groups will decide what the most important facts are and put them in their foursquare graphic organizer worksheet. The topics will be Where do they live? What do they eat? How do they look? What do they do? After students have ample time to research their topic and pick out important facts, they will return to their original groups and take turns teaching the topic they researched. Students will use this information to fill out their foursquare graphic organizers. Once everyone has shared their information, they will return to their seats. On their own, they will write a sentence about each square/topic. Closing: Students will share their work with a partner to compare. Most papers will be similar but not identical. Students can offer advice regarding proper sentence structure, spelling, and content. Evaluation: Teacher will assess students anecdotally during the project to ensure that everyone is actively involved and clear about their topics. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: The trade books will be selected from a variety of reading levels. The teacher will ensure that there are plenty of appropriately leveled texts for the student to choose from. The student can work with a partner when developing their sentences.

Differentiation for student with ADHD: This lesson allows for many short steps to provide variety. By using stations and several groups, the student has the opportunity to move around. The student can stand/pace while reading and researching the trade books. Extension Activities: Student can draw a diagram and label the different parts of their topic. Reflection: With practice, this jigsaw approach can be used for any four step task, four detailed topics, etc. The group size will vary due to amount of students. If it is uneven, pair students with higher needs with gifted students so they can co-teach their topic.

Writing Lesson Plan #3-Favorite Fish Objectives: Students will practice writing expository text, including topic, supporting points, and closure by writing about their favorite underwater animal. Activities and Procedure: Students will use trade books, magazines, and the internet to research several websites about their favorite fish. They will then use an outline to develop a topic sentence, 3 supporting details, and a closing sentence to sum up their research. Hook: I will bring in pictures, of my favorite underwater animal (manatee) I also have other manatee artifacts that I can show and tell (figurines, stuffed animals, photographs, books). Introduction: Today we are going to practice writing expository text. Does anybody know what that means? Everybody is going to select their own underwater animal to write about. Let s brainstorm several possibilities. It can be from freshwater or saltwater. Who has a suggestion to share? Body: After collecting several ideas, tell the students that they can use one of the listed ones, or come up with their own. The students will share their animal idea with the teacher individually and the teacher will assign them a station to start at. The teacher will decide which station depending on the animal selected. This way, the teacher can suggest starting points and resources that are likely to have a good amount of information. Students can rotate from station to station, but they dont have to. They can stop once they find the right amount of facts. The goal of the lesson is focused on the writing, not the research. The students will list a topic sentence about what animal they chose, three supporting details about their animal, and a final sentence that summarizes why they chose that animal. Closing: After the students complete their graphic organizer, using complete sentences, they will go to the teacher for a brief conference. Evaluation: Teacher will conference with the student and read their paper, offering suggestions for improvement. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: The student will only have to list one fact/supporting detail about their animal. The teacher will direct the student toward the resources that are the most user friendly.

Differentiation for student with ADHD: Rather than having a single conference at the end of the writing project, the student can come up and check in with the teacher after each sentence. Extension Activities: Have the student visit an aquarium or reserve, or interview or write to someone who has first-hand experience with their animal of choice. Have them brainstorm for questions to ask the person.

Social Skills Lesson Plan #1- Preference Ponds Objectives: After given four options, students will select a preferred topic and proceed to that pond. Students will then discuss similarities. Academic Language: pond, preference Activities and Procedure: On each of four walls of the classroom there will be a pond taped up. The students will be presented with a topic and four genres. They must select one choice out of the four and write it and their name on their fish shaped post-it note. When instructed, they swim their fish to the proper pond. They will then spend a few minutes discussing why they chose that pond and share their thoughts. Hook: Show the students the clip from Finding Nemo when the fish all gather to go to school. Introduction: Does anybody know what a group of fish is called? Why do you think they stick together? Do you think they might have similar interests? Why is it good to know someones interests? Body: The teacher will introduce the ponds around the room and explain that we will be learning about each others preferences and interests. The teacher will hand out four post -it fish to each student and ask them to put their names on each of them, using proper penmanship. The teacher will then present the topic of Music. She will put a laminated sign at each pond listing one of four genres--rock, rap, country, oldies. Each student will be instructed to write the genre of their preference on a post-it. If their favorite preference isnt listed, they are to choose which one of the choices they like best. After everyone has individually written their choice, the teacher will tell them to swim to their respective ponds. Once there, prompt the students to talk about similarities and common interests. After a few minutes, have the students return to their seats. Put up new laminated signs at each pond about a different topic. Possible topics include sports (basketball, baseball, football, soccer), movie genre (comedy, action, drama, romance), favorite school subjects (math, science, language arts, social studies) etc. Closing: After three or four rounds, have the students gather to discuss why it might be helpful to know what each other prefer. Encourage them to develop new friendships now that they know some common interests each other share.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated anecdotally on how well they interacted, followed directions, and completed the given tasks. They can turn in their post-it fish so the teacher can evaluate handwriting and completion. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: Students who have difficulty writing or spelling could draw a picture on their post-it instead of write, or just participate in the group activity aspect. Differentiation for student with ADHD: I ensured that the students had the opportunity to get up out of their seats to move around. They could move their bodies in a swimming fashion when going to their pond. They had their discussions while standing, allowing students with ADHD the ability to burn off some extra energy. Extension Activities: Students could brainstorm their own topics and categories and the teacher could use blank laminated signs that students could fill in using dry erase markers. Reflection/Notes: This activity could be a good ice breaker at the beginning of the school year, or it could be helpful to assist students in picking new partners if they always want to choose the same people in self-selected group assignments. Perhaps you could encourage students to choose new partners based on a newly discovered similar interest. Social Skills Lesson Plan #2-Fishy Faces Objectives: This lesson helps students identify what different facial expressions may mean. Students will become more aware of what non-verbal cues can tell us about how someone may feel. Academic Language: emotions, expressions, non-verbal Activities and Procedure: Students will go to the front of the class and draw a random emotion from all the fish in the sea. Hook: Start making an exaggerated face in front of the class and hold it until you have the attention of every student. Ask the students to guess what you were thinking. Introduction: Ask students what facial expressions can tell them, without even hearing a word. Ask them if there is any other way they can tell what someone is thinking. Body: Have students take turns coming up to the front of the class. Using a fishing pole, have the students cast the line into the sea. The teacher will hook to the line a certain emotion. The student will then act out the emotion using just their facial expressions and see if the other students can guess what they were feeling. Continue until you have gone through several expressions (sad, mad, happy, scared, surprised, tired, and confused). Closing: Is there any face that may mean more than one thing? Think about when you are concentrating very hard. Could someone mistake it for an angry face? Why is it important that we dont judge someones mood by just their face?

Evaluation: Have students draw or cut out pictures of facial expressions and put them on the fish. Have them describe in writing what the feeling is and what may make them feel that way. Students will be evaluated by how well their selected drawings or cutouts match the descriptions they give. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: Only offer the student the four basic feeling faces (mad, happy, sad, and scared). Let them verbally explain their reasoning for their drawings. Differentiation for student with ADHD: By having the students get up and cast the line, they get to move around. They also get to use kinesthetic learning when they use their facial expressions to act out emotions. We could assess this student by having them act out different emotions rather than draw them. Extension Activities: Provide other more subtle emotions and see if the student can draw pictures of those. Have the student compare two similar facial expressions to determine which one is most suitable for specific emotions. Reflection: The charade activity could also be done with gestures. Social Skills Lesson Plan #3-Hooked On Kindness Objectives: This lesson is to teach children to do small acts of kindness on a regular basis. Students will demonstrate that a small effort to be kind can make big differences in attitudes. Academic Language: Activities and Procedure: Students will go out and perform acts of kindness and report them to the teacher. They will then write them on hearts that will be glued on to a fish template. Hook: Tell the students a story about a time someone practiced a random act of kindness on you. Introduction: Can anyone think of a time when someone did something kind for you out of the blue? What does it mean to be kind? What are some ways that we can easily reach out and do a kind act for someone? Has anyone ever heard the term pay it forward? Body: For this lesson, I want everybody to Think, Write, Share. Get out scrap paper and write a way someone has been kind to you. Does anybody want to share? Now lets think of some ways that you could pay it forward. Lets brainstorm. Students take turns sharing their ideas and writing them on the Smartboard. The teacher calls them to action. Have each student go out and practice as many random acts of kindness as they can. Remind them it doesnt have to be big, but it should be thoughtful. Closing: Students resume this lesson the following day. The teacher asks students to name ways they did something kind. The students write the actions on cardboard hearts and cut them out. They paste the hearts on the fish template, using a heart for the tailfin, dorsal fins, and/or lips.

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated informally on how they completed the task. Differentiation for student with a Learning Disability: Allow the student to tell you their acts of kindness to be dictated. The student can then glue the heart on their fish. Differentiation for student with ADHD: This lesson activity allows the student to go out on their own to complete the task. Perhaps give them suggestions for acts of kindness that allow them to burn off energy. The student can share their written hearts to you after each one, allowing for feedback and an opportunity to get out of their seat a little. Extension Activities: Encourage the student to create a poster for the hallway listing suggestions of ways to pay it forward. This could serve as a centerpiece for a bulletin board that showcases all the classs heart-fish. Reflection: By creating a bulletin board that shares the students kindness, we can foster a sense of classroom community. By publishing it to the school, the students can take responsibility for encouraging the entire school to model their behavior in a positive manner.