Dayanara Flores & Karla Fontbuena

April 26, 2017

ED319 Microteaching

Title of Unit: Lesson Title: Duration of Lesson Grade level:

Historical Fiction Descriptive Techniques 30-45 minutes 4th

CCSS: GDOE Standard:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.10 Write Language Arts/Writing

routinely over extended time frames (time for 4.4.3 Write for different purposes (information,
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter persuasion, description) and to a specific
time frames (a single sitting or a day or two)
audience or person.
for a range of discipline-specific tasks,
purposes, and audiences.

I Can Statement

I can write a description of a setting.

Assessment & Monitoring

Throughout the lesson, students will be assessed based on their participation and through
observation, questioning, and class discussion.
Other formative assessments for this lesson include a thumbs-up, thumbs-down and Fist of Three
in which students will show 1 finger if they do not understand the lesson, 2 fingers if they are getting
the lesson but need further guidance, or three fingers if they completely understand the lesson.

Key Concept Vocabulary Resources & Materials

Description Index cards

Setting Mad Libs Worksheet
Historical Fiction Pencils and erasers
Popsicle sticks
Projector
Laptop w/ Internet
PowerPoint Presentation
Sequence Instructional Strategies/ Lesson Activity

1. Anticipatory set (7 minutes):

a. Preparation: Teacher will give each student an index card.
b. Teacher will go over todays agenda and introduce the I can statements to the class.
Teacher will tell students to think of a memorable event (happy or sad) that occurred in their
lives in the past. Students are to think back as far as they can remember. Students will write
down the name of that event on the blank side of the index card. Teacher will tell students to
show a thumbs-up if they wrote down their answer on the index card. Teacher will tell
students to set aside the index card for a later activity.
c. Teacher will have a short review with the students about what they had learned last week
about using descriptive words to describe a setting. Included in the review is what the students
learned in the previous class about Historical Fiction. Teacher will ask students to show a Fist
of Three.
2. Active instruction (10 minutes):
a. The teacher will show two passages taken from two different historical fiction picturebooks for
children. Teacher will give a short introduction about the setting of the two passages, which
take place during the Great Depression.
b. Teacher will read both passages aloud and then ask the students to compare the selections
and illustrations. Teacher will have a class discussion about which description is more
evocative and helps them to understand the historical time period best.
c. Teacher will introduce the writing activity.
3. Guided practice (7 minutes):
a. As a class, the teacher and students will brainstorm before their writing activity. Teacher will
do a quick Mad Libs brainstorming activity in which each student (or pair) will be called upon
to write/say a response aloud to the topic given. Teacher will fill-in the Mad Libs worksheet
with the students responses. After all responses have been filled-in, teacher will ask one
student to read aloud the Mad Libs story to the class.
4. Independent practice (5 minutes):
a. Students are now ready to write their original descriptions of a memorable event that occurred
in their lives in the past. Teacher will tell students to write down their descriptions on the lined
side of the index card. Students are to use the descriptive techniques they had learned in
class as they write their responses.
5. Closure (7 minutes):
a. To wrap up the activity, the students will share their descriptions with a pair. Then, students
will share their descriptions with the class.
b. Teacher will review the I can statements again and ask the students to do a thumbs-up if
they felt like they achieved todays lesson objective.
Adaptations for Unique Student Needs

Repeat directions/allow extra time if necessary

Provide ample examples and visuals
Pair students based on ability to enhance student learning

The Babe and I by David Adler

For my birthday I was hoping my parents would give me a bicycle. They only gave me a dime. I
was disappointed, but not surprised. It was 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, and
millions of people were out of work. We were lucky. My father had a job. But we never seemed
to have much money. Where we lived, in the Bronx, New York, everyone was poor.
A few blocks from home my neighbor Jacob and I passed a woman selling apples. Her clothes
were wrinkled and shabby. I gave her my birthday dime and bought two apples, one for me and
one for Jacob. I was glad to be rid of the dime. It reminded me of the present I didnt get. We
turned onto Webster Avenue, and there were more apple sellers. Near the next corner I saw a
large briefcase. I looked up and there was Dad, selling apples like the others.

Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression by Kate Lied

This is a story about my grandfather and my grandmother. It is also a story about the Great
Depression and how hard things were. Once upon a time, there was a mother named Agnes
and a father named Clarence. They had a baby girl named Dorothy. Dorothy and her parents
lived in Iowa. Clarence and Agnes had not been married long. Clarence had lost his job and the
bank took away their house. Agnes father had a job in the coal mine and Clarence joined him.
Then, one day, the coal mine closed. There were no other jobs available. People took jobs
wherever they could find them. Someone they met told them there were jobs in Idaho picking
potatoes. Agnes knew someone who had a car they could borrow. So they borrowed money for
gas and left Iowa with Dorothy.
Mad Libs Worksheet