Elementary Education Program

Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Design Document for Lesson Plan

Name: Katie Cipully

Grade Level: 3rd Grade
Concept/Topic: Culture
Length of Lesson (in minutes): 30-40 minutes

Learning Objectives: What are your learning objectives? (What new understandings will the
students have as a result of this lesson? Make sure learning objectives are measurable.)

 Students will be able to define culture and compare it to their own community.
 Students will be able to write and draw an image to express their understanding of the
story.

Under which standards from North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NC-SCOS) do these
learning objectives fall?

 3.C.1- Understand how diverse cultures are visible in local and regional communities.
o 3.C.1.1- Compare languages, foods and traditions of various groups living in local
and regional communities.

Key Tasks/Activities: What are the key activities or tasks that you plan to use?

 Read-Aloud: Islandborn
 Turn and Talk Discussions:
o “What do you think culture means?”
o “Do you have any family that speaks a different language?”
o “What is your favorite food that you eat at home?”
o “What is something you feel makes you special or unique?”
 Index Card Activity (7 Cards
o Where I live?
o How I dress?
o My language?
o What I eat?
o My family?
o Celebrations?
o Art and music?
 Quick Write
o “What does culture mean to you? What are some similarities and differences you
noticed or learned about when talking to your peers?” Students will then draw an
image to go with their response.
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

What is your rationale for why you have selected these particular tasks/activities to meet your
learning objectives?

 Islandborn is a wonderful book that explores culture and identity of the main character,
Lola, as she goes around her community discovering interesting things about the little
island (Dominican Republic) that she and her family came from.
 The turn and talk can be used to get students talking about parts of their culture and get
ready for students to see another example of culture in Islandborn.
 The index card activity is to help students formulate conversations with one another as
well as explore new ideas about themselves and their peers.

Anticipating Students’ Responses: How do you anticipate that students will respond to your
planned activities/tasks? This does NOT mean their response affectively, but instead their
response academically (e.g., What prior knowledge or conceptions might they bring? How do
you think they will approach or solve the task(s)?). When necessary, please insert images of
your handwritten anticipated approaches/strategies. Be specific! Use your anticipated responses
to help you plan your questions in the lesson plan.

 I expect that students will be interested and engaged during the reading of Islandborn. At
first students may need a little extra explanation and scaffolding when understanding
culture and the different aspects that make it up. Students may have some trouble
comparing their cultures with other at first, but hopefully through appropriate facilitation
and scaffolding students will feel comfortable sharing their culture with their classmates
and be able to find similarities and differences between themselves.
 Students might come with prior knowledge of their own culture as well as some
conceptions that may or may not be correct about others’ cultures, such as stereotypes.
 At first students may not open up but after a round with encouragement from the teacher
students will hopefully feel comfortable sharing with and learning from their classmates.

Responding to Students’ Responses: Describe how you will provide scaffolding for students
who are stuck and describe how you will extend the thinking of students who have a firm grasp
on the target content/objectives.

For students that feel stuck I might give a few examples in my own life and see if the student can
think of something similar in their life. I can also pose the question that the student is answering
in a different way that might help them make sense of it easier.
 “_______, can you tell us a little more about this food/music/etc. that your culture has?”
 “ _____, Thank you for sharing with us! I didn’t know about ______ before!”
 “ _______, that is very interesting! Instead of ______, we do _______ in my culture, but
we still have __________ in common!”
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences

Development of Practices among Students: Which disciplinary practices does your lesson aim
to develop? (e.g., “construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others”, “develop
and use models”) How do the task(s) develop the target practice(s)?

 Culture - Human beings create, learn, and adapt culture. Cultures are dynamic systems of
beliefs, values, and traditions that exhibit both commonalities and differences.
Understanding culture helps us understand ourselves and others.
 Individual Development and Identity- Personal identity is shaped by one’s culture, by
groups, and by institutional in- fluences. Examination of various forms of human
behavior enhances under- standing of the relationship between social norms and
emerging personal identities, the relationships between social processes that influence
identity formation, and the ethical principles underlying individual actions.
o “We all have a personal identity and our culture is part of that. Things like food,
clothes, language, music, and art are some things that make up our culture, which
is a part of our identity.”
 Time, Continuity, and Change- Human beings seek to understand their historic roots and
to locate themselves in time. Knowing what things were like in the past and how things
change and develop helps us answer important questions about our current condition.
o “In this story, Lola wants to learn about the Island that she was born on so she
goes around asking questions to people in her neighborhood. She learns about
how these brave men and women stood up to the monster, the lively music, and
the sweetest fruit that her island had. She learned about how things change in her
home island.”
 http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/1584/1622667/fig%201_3.pdf

Assessment: Describe your assessment plan for the targeted learning objective(s). What
specific data/information will you use, and how will that data/information tell you that the
students have/have not met the objective?

Throughout the lesson we will ask students questions to get them talking as well as assess their
understanding of the topic. Teacher will observe and listen in on student conversations during
turn and talk and index card activity. Students will participate in a quick write at the end of the
lesson. They will answer the questions, “What does culture mean to you? What are some
similarities and differences you noticed or learned about when talking to your peers?” Students
will then draw an image to go with their response.

Vocabulary/Language Function: Define vocabulary that students will need to know in order to
access the content and goals of your lesson. Be precise and careful with your language. Please
attend to three types of vocabulary:

● Content vocabulary (e.g., obtuse, molecule, civil rights)

 Culture - Culture is a pattern of behavior shared by a society, or group of people.
Many different things make up a society's culture. These things include food,
language, clothing, tools, music, arts, customs, beliefs, and religion.
● Academic language (e.g., represent, model, compare)
 Discuss - to consider carefully and openly by reasoning or argument, to talk about
 Elementary Education Program
Department of Teacher Education & Learning Sciences


Compare - to examine in order to discover likenesses or differences

Describe - to represent or give an account of in words
● Key non-content vocabulary that is necessary to understand the task/activity
 Island - a piece of land surrounded by land
 Hurricane - a storm with a violent wind
 Abuela - Grandma
 Hija - Daughter

https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/culture/399913

Classroom Management Plan: Describe your classroom management plan. Explain how you
will motivate students to engage in the lesson, how you will set and enforce expectations, and
how you will ensure that transitions are smooth and efficient.

 Whole group read aloud

o “I’ll wait until we are all ready to listen”
o “Give me a pirate patch if you...”
o “Give yourself a pat on the back for being such good listeners”
o “Listening” or “Awesome” points awarded
o “Kapeesh” “Kaposh”
 Turn and Talk:
o Establish that “when others are talking, we are not.”
 Index Card Activity
o Establish that “when your peers are talking, you are listening”
o Flip the chip task (each student receives 3 two-sided chips, each student flips
them over as they speak, each student must flip over all their chips)
 Writing/Drawing
o Respect materials and classmates
o Quiet Conversations

The CT has very effective classroom management practices in place. When she is at the
front of the room the students usually are listening, but sometimes need a gentle reminder to be
respectful and listen. During turn and talks students are allowed to turn to anybody and if there
are people without partners she will pair students up together to make sure everybody has a
talking partner. She is specific about what she wants students to be talking about and ends the
turn and talk time once student discussion either dies down or starts to get off topic. When
students are drawing and writing my students are usually independent, but sometimes need
reminders to keep their volume low or to sit in their seat the correct way (flexible seating).