Jennifer Thomas

Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

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A. TITLE/ TYPE OF LESSON: Homophones/Word Sort
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON: The students have been working on word sorts throughout the
school year. The students have set up a weekly routine of word sorts. The students have a weekly
schedule of activities and homework to complete. The word study period is also kept short at
about thirty minutes long. This lesson will follow a similar structure with a word sort of
homophones, and it will have specific activities and homework that the students will complete
daily. The word study time is designated before reading comprehension, and it involves an
introduction of the weekly sort and words within it. In the upper elementary grades, it is typical
for the students to work with and understand the syllables and affixes stage. This is important so
students can enter into the derivational spelling stage, which is the last spelling stage. Once they
reach the last spelling stage, the students will continuously improve their skills in spelling,
reading, and writing throughout their education. The students have begun the syllables and
affixes spelling stage because they have been practicing with inflectional endings such as
doubling the consonant at the syllable juncture to add ing and dropping the e to add -ing. The
students have seen these patterns in words like cutting that represent doubling the consonant
principle. They have also studied words like hiking and living where the students had to practice
dropping the e to add ing. These patterns fall within the syllables and affixes stage. To
continue building their knowledge of the syllables and affixes stage, the students will conduct a
word study on homophones. Homophones fall into the within word pattern spelling stage. A
homophone is a pair or set of words that sound the same but are different in meaning, spelling,
and pattern. This builds on the meaning layer of English orthography, which is vital in the
syllables and affixes stage and the derivational stage. Homophones are important in introducing
the connection between spelling and meaning that is extremely important to the derivational
stage because it helps students understand root words and prefixes. This lesson will continue to
build the foundation needed for students to move into the last two stages of spelling
development. This lesson will fit into child development because the within word pattern stage
ranges from 7-10 years of age and it continues to expand all the way into the 4
th
and 5
th
grades. It
is also developmentally appropriate because the students are transitioning into the beginning of
the syllables and affixes stage that ranges from 9-14 years of age. This typically falls within late
4
th
grade, 5
th
grade, and into early 6
th
grade. A word study on homophones will build their
understanding of the syllable and affixes stage, which makes it a developmentally appropriate
lesson.
C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are the broad
generalizations the students should
begin to develop? (These are
typically difficult to assess in one
lesson.)
Know what are the facts, rules,
specific data the students will gain
through this lesson? (These knows
must be assessed in your lesson.)
Do what are the specific thinking
behaviors students will be able to do
through this lesson? (These will also
be assessed in your lesson.)
Before: 1. Students will have
heard of or have some prior
knowledge of what the word
Before: 1. Students will be
able to read the list of words
Students will volunteer to
explain the definition of the
Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

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homophone means. for the word sort. word.
During: 1. There are words
that sound the same but have
different meaning and spelling
(concept).
During: 1. Students will
recognize and know the
meaning of the homophones
listed in the word sort.
Students will raise their hand
in response to the question
Has anyone heard of the
word homophone before or
have an idea of what the word
means?
During: 2. Many commonly
used words are homophones
(concept).
After: 1. Students will be able
to define what a homophone
is.
Students will write a response
to this on the test they will
take to assess their learning of
the word study.
During: 3. Words that are
homophones have different
meanings and will change the
meaning of the sentence they
are in if the word is used
incorrectly (concept).
After: 2. Students will be able
to write a sentence for 20 of
24 homophones and represent
the word used in the sentence
with a picture.
Students will use 20 out of 24
words correctly in a sentence.
After: 3. Students will
determine what word best
completes the sentence by
using context clues and
sentence structure to help
determine which word belongs
in the sentence.
The students will answer 20
out of 24 questions correctly
on the test they will take the
Friday after the lesson.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
- 1. After: 1. Students will be able to define what a homophone is will be assessed
through a test that will be given on the Friday after the lesson plan. The test will be collected and
evaluated. The students will have met this learning objective if 85% of the 44 students can
correctly define what a homophone means on the test.
- 2. After: 3. Students will determine what word best completes the sentence by using
context clues and sentence structure to help determine which word belongs in the sentence will
be assessed through a multiple choice test that will be given on Friday after the lesson is
complete. The learning objective will be met if 85% of the students out of 44 students receive a
90% or higher on the test.
E.RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

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1. VA SOL 5.8: The student will edit writing for correct grammar, capitalization,
spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraphing.
J) Use correct spelling of commonly used words.
2. VA SOL 5.4: The student will expand vocabulary when reading.
B) Use context and sentence structure to determine meanings and differentiate
among multiple meanings of words.
C) Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, antonyms, and homophones.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
- 21 copies of the word sort list (provided by metemplate attached)
- A deck of index cards that have the words written on them for win, lose, or draw (provided by
me)
- A document camera to display the definitions of the words (provided by classroom)
- A list of definitions of the words (provided by metemplate attached)
- 2 white board markers (provided by classroom)
- 21 copies of a multiple choice test to be given as assessment (provided by metemplate
attached)
- $1 bucks for rewards
G. PROCEDURE
Preparation of Learning Environment: I will pass out a copy of the word list to each
student. I will give the students about 3 minutes to read over the list of words and to
begin thinking about what a homophone is.
Engage- Introduction of Lesson Plan:
o I will begin the lesson by having the students read over the list of words. I will tell
them, Read your word list, and begin thinking about what a homophone might
be.
o Once 3 minutes is up, I will ask the students if they have ever heard of a
homophone before. They will show this to me by raising their hands.
Implementation of Lesson:
o I will tell the students to put their hands down. I will ask students to raise their
hand if they think they know what a homophone is.
o I will call on 5 students and write their answers on the board. The student will get
1 buck for answering (this is the schools reward system).
o I will ask the class if they agree or disagree with the answers.
o If the students agree, I will reveal the definition I have written down. If the
students do not agree, then I will ask for 2-4 responses as to why they do not think
the definition/answer is not right. Then I will ask them what they think a
homophone is, and I will add their responses to the board.
Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

4 | P a g e

o After the definition of a homophone is established, I will go over the list of words
one by one. I will do this by asking the class if they know what the definition of
the word is. I will reveal each definition one by one.
o After we have gone over each word, the students will put their word lists away.
o Play homophone win, lose, or draw.
I will explain the game to the students. The game is like Pictionary. There
will be an artist for each team (I will select the artist). The artist from each
team will come up to the board, and I will draw a card. The artists have to
draw a picture to represent the word on the board. Members from each
team will raise their hands. I will call on one person to answer. The team
must give the spelling of the word and its match, if they are correct. If the
team is wrong, the word will go to the other team.
Go over rules.
1. No shouting/yelling.
2. Be respectful of everyones answers. If you are rude or
disrespectful, you will not get to play.
3. Listen to what others have to say.
4. If the game gets too loud, we will shut it down.
Play game.
o Closure
End the game by having everyone return to their desks (if they have
moved).
Have students put away all materials they might still have out.
Ask the students if they have any questions.
o Clean-up
Have students put away everything on their desk.
H. DIFFERENTIATION
1. Some students will need extra help, and there are teachers that push into the classroom
and provide extra help.
2. There are other students who have to push out of the classroom to other teachers that
provide one-on-one instruction.
3. If the students finish early, I will allow them to start on their homework sentences.
4. If students are struggling on the idea of a homophone, I will meet with them
individually to talk about what a homophone is and give the student extra examples of them.
I.WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON PLAN AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?
Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

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1. Students could be bored during the lesson plan. I will forget about the definitions to put
on the board, and I will quickly go over the definition of the words in order to get to the game
quicker.
2. The students might not participate in the lesson. If they are hesitant to participate, I
will as leading questions like Where have you heard the word homophone before? or Have
you heard the word homophone before? When a student answers, I will give them a 1 buck as a
reward.
3. The document camera might not work. I will write the definitions on the board.
4. I might run out of time. I will stop what we are doing, and leave the game for the
students to play whenever they have any free time.
5. An emergency drill might occur. I will have the students follow the normal emergency
procedures, and we will pick up the lesson where it left off when the drill concludes.
Lesson Implementation Reflection
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and
explain why you made them.
- I had planned to only teach the lesson one time, but I taught it three different times. I
did not expect to have so many students the first time I taught it. I thought I would have about
25, but I wound up having 50. Having so many kids on the very first day I was there made it
extremely difficult to teach the lesson. The students were cluttered everywhere around the room,
so it made walking around the room very difficult. Also, I had typed up the words to display on
the document camera, but it was more trouble than it was worth because the students already
knew the definitions of the words. Also, there was not as much room at the board for students to
stand and draw their pictures. It also made it tough because the students did not all get a chance
to draw, and many of the students wanted to draw the words. However, the second time I taught
the lesson, there were only about 20 children. This was much easier because the students were
not cramped up in the room. I also did not use the definitions on a document camera, which was
much easier. I went over each word with the students, calling on them to tell me what each word
means. It took about 10 minutes to get through the words, and then I split the class into two
teams to play Pictionary with the words. The students were really excited and enthusiastic about
playing the game, and they were standing in a line waiting to get their chance to draw. The last
time I did this lesson, it went the best. Again, I verbally went over the words with the students by
calling on them to tell me what each word meant. Then we played charades instead of Pictionary.
The students really loved the charades and were really enthusiastic about playing.
- I made the change of not using the definitions of the words because the students already
knew what the words meant, and it also made the lesson messier by trying to display the words
the first time I taught it. It worked much better by verbally going over the words. It was smoother
and quicker, which allowed them to have more time to play the game.

Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

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II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student
learning? Did they learn? Who learned? What did they learn? What evidence can you offer
that your conclusions are valid?
-The students learned about commonly confused homophones (word sort list attached to
the back). The students have already learned about homophones, and they had already learned
these words in previous grades. The words were a review, but they were practicing their meaning
contextually within a sentence. The students in all of 5
th
grade (about 100 students) were taught
the same word study lesson. However, I only assessed the students that are in my cooperating
teachers core I and core II reading classes.
-My first assessment goal was to have 85% of 44 students correctly define what a
homophone is. However, only 54.54% attempted to answer and defined it correctly. My first
assessment goal was not met. However, I feel like the students know what a homophone is, but
the students had a hard time writing a concrete definition on paper. If I had asked the students
one-on-one to tell me what the definition of a homophone is, I feel like they would have been
able to verbally explain it to me. A lot of the students wrote examples, so another reason the goal
may not have been met is because they were confused on what exactly to do/what define means.
Most of them seemed to somewhat understand part of the definition, but it seemed like it could
have been that they had a hard time writing it concretely on paper.
-My second assessment goal was to have 85% of 44 students receive a 90% or higher.
My goal was met for this learning objective because 36 out of 44 students received a 91.66% or
higher. 23 students received a 100%. 12 students missed only one question and received a
95.83%. 1 student missed two questions and received a 91.66%. The average for the test out of
44 students was a 95.83% (see attached sheet). The students were extremely successful on this
test, and I feel like the students continued to learn about the commonly confused homophones.
They are really able to understand the difference between the words, and they are able to
correctly identify which words contextually belong within the sentence.

III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a
better or more thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.
-One activity or challenge I could have done with the students was to have them write a
story using a certain amount of words. They could write the story about anything, or they could
write a poem. This goes along with all of the different strategies they have been preparing for the
Virginia SOLs. The students are required to write a story, and there are questions about poems
on the SOL. This activity helps them create a story that is meaningful to them, and it also builds
their background with the commonly confused homophones. Then the students can go through
and review to see if they correctly used the words in the sentences.

IV. Based on the assessment data you collected what would you do/teach next if you were the
classroom teacher?
Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

7 | P a g e

-Based on the assessment data, I would review what the definition of a homophone is.
Based on the definitions that were given, some of the students did not understand the entire
definition of a homophone; or the students could not effectively communicate on paper what it
meant. Completing a quick review will help students go over homophones again, which will help
clear up confusion that may have existed from the previous lesson. Then I would move on to
homographs and homonyms. This is important because some of the students would say a
homophone is a word that is the same; or a homophone is a word that looks the same with
different sound, which is a homonym. Some of the students would also say that they sound the
same and look the same, which is a homograph. Creating a lesson/game that emphasizes the
differences between the three with lots and lots of examples would allow students to practice the
definitions while having fun.

V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about young children as learners?

-While I taught this lesson, many students talked about how they had a lot of fun and did
not get to do this for every word study. This made me realize that the students did not like the
weekly word study because it was boring to them. Incorporating games was a really effective
way to get students excited and involved in word study. This reinforces that students need to be
actively engaged in a lesson to truly enjoy learning, and games are a great way to boost student
engagement. I also learned students are excited and ready to learn as long as we, as teachers,
make it meaningful to them.

VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about teaching?
- One thing that I learned is that it is much easier to teach smaller groups of students,
about 20-25, than it is to teach bigger groups of students. It is harder to teach a big group of
students because they are crowded close together, which creates many distractions. Each student
did not have his/her own space, which meant each student was not as comfortable sitting how
he/she was sitting. Also, teaching this lesson reinforces the need to make lessons, like word
study, that can be very daunting and boring a fun experience. It also showed me that teaching
takes a lot of extra planning, and it is important to have back up plans. The second time I taught
this lesson, the students finished the game with about ten minutes left in the lesson. I had to come
up with a game on the fly, but it would have been much easier to have a back up game planned. I
also learned that a lot of things might happen on the fly, and I need to be prepared to have to
change the lesson at moment if something arises.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about yourself?
Jennifer Thomas
Fifth Grade
Presentation Date and Time: 1/22/2012 at 10:00 a.m.
1/21/2013

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-I have learned that I still need as much practice as possible. Having the chance to teach
the lesson three different times was definitely a huge benefit to me because each time I taught the
lesson it went better than the time before. These experiences really help me see what I will be
doing and what kind of planning that goes into teaching these lessons. I have also learned that I
enjoy creating lessons where the students get to play fun and engaging games. I think these are
important to student learning because it allows the students to get up and move, and it creates a
relatable experience for the students when they have to take tests or complete assessments. When
the students come to a question such as I wanted to ______ my new jacket, but my mom would
not let me, they can think back to the game they played to help them remember which word fits
best into the sentence. I also learned that I get more pleasure out of the students standing up and
getting excited and being eager to participate in the game they are playing.