Lesson+Plan+Deconstruction+Graphic+Organizer

Collaborators Jennifer Jackson and Michelle Lee Dr. M.  ** Graphic Organizer: Classroom-Library Lesson Plan Deconstruction **
 * Lesson Plan Deconstruction – A.3.1**
 * Copy and paste this graphic organizer onto your wiki page. Using different colors, each member of the partnership must respond to each bullet.**

A graphic organizer differs from a worksheet in several important ways.
 * **Worksheet** || **Graphic Organizer** ||
 * One correct response for each question or blank || A diversity of responses can be correct ||
 * Formal test-like quality to practice or assess knowledge || Not standardized, more open-ended ||
 * Usually does not include teaching (new information) || Can include new information to capitalize on instructional potential ||
 * Less flexibility || Greater differentiation and support for ELLs and special education students ||
 * Does not always stimulate higher-order thinking skills || More likely to provoke higher-order thinking due to open-endedness of the possible responses ||

A graphic organizer should be constructed as a tool for learning. This graphic organizer follows the lesson plan template on page 15 in CRCSESL or page 17 in CRCSSSL. Read the additional information provided on this graphic organizer and use it to analyze the lesson plan you are deconstructing.

1. Each partner should use a **different color font** to indicate her/his contributions to this collaborative assignment. Do not use black! 2. Where you see a **diamond-shaped** bullet (turned into a ‘v” by wikispaces), you will need to provide a response. 3. “Yes” and “no” (or variations of these such as “none”) are incomplete answers and will earn **zero points**, except as noted on the checklist.
 * Important:**


 * Reading Comprehension Strategy: Activating or Building Background Knowledge**
 * Instructional Level: Advancing**
 * Planning**
 * Reading Comprehension Strategy (RCS)

v Name the RCS. Activating or Building Background Knowledge Activating or Building Background Knowledge

v Which AASL **ONE or TWO** indicators align with this reading comprehension strategy? Note both the number and the actual language of the indicator. 1.1.2. - Use prior knowledge as context for new learning. 1.1.6 - Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. 4.1.5 - Connect ideas to own interests and previous knowledge and experience. 4.1.5 is under the self-assessment strand. My question to myself would be: Will students self-assess their background knowledge in this lesson? Since they will, it is a contender. My personal opinion when it comes to standards is less is more... Since we are doing the Advancing Level this is targeted for 2nd and 3rd graders. Note: The levels indicated on the CS4TRC lesson plans correspond roughly as follows: Emerging: Grades K-1 Advancing: Grades 2-3 Advanced: Grades 4-6
 * Reading Development Level

Note: The levels indicated on the CRCSSSL lesson plans correspond roughly as follows: Advancing: Grades 7-8 Advanced: Grades 9-10 Challenging: Grades 11-22

However, these are approximations. Depending on the reading proficiency of the students with whom you work, these grades levels should be adjusted up or down. For example, I have used some of the advanced lessons in CS4TRC with less proficient 8th-grade students. Review these strategies on page 13 in CRCSESL or page 16 in CRCSSSL. v Which of these research-based instructional strategies have you used in your teaching? Name them. Identifying similarities and differences, Cooperative learning, Setting objectives and providing feedback, Questions, cues, and advance organizers, Nonlinguistic representations Identifying similarities and differences, Summarizing and note taking, Nonlinguistic representations, Cooperative learning, Setting objectives and providing feedback and Questions, cues, and advance organizers Good v Which of these instructional strategies do you need to learn? Name them and describe them. I need to learn more about how to teach summarizing and note taking for students since this was not done as much at the lower levels I have taught at. Summarizing is used in the main ideas strategy lessons and includes students being able to determine the main idea while ignoring some information. It provides support of scaffolds readers' access to the important parts (Moreillon 104). Notemaking implies that students record information in their own words and requires students to carefully record information in order to be able to cite their sources (Moreillon 11). Moreillon, Judi. Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Elementary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact. Chicago: American Library Association, 2013. Print. Summarizing and notemaking are essential to library work. Developing questioning skills is also essential to library work. Through modeling, we can help students learn to ask better questions.
 * Instructional Strategies

While I have used all these strategies to a certain extent, I find that with strategies like summarizing and notemaking I always had to do it with them. I taught 3rd and 4th grade and except for the very highest of my students, I could not get them to summarize which is the first step in notemaking. We would read sections and summarize them together, but not independently. When I asked students to make notes in their spirals about something we read, they always fell back on just copying sentences from the book instead of restating it in their own words, notemaking. I could use some help with writing rubrics (setting objectives). I could give them a general instructions about what I wanted, but it would have been nice to have a rubric where all the expectations are laid out for the students and me. Agreed... Co-created rubrics are extremely helpful in coteaching--not only to students but to teachers as well.

For your consideration:. If you do not already, please consider other advance organizers beside K-W-Ls. Anticipation guides and admit slips can be useful to building background knowledge when students do not have it. Venn diagrams are the most common similarities and differences graphic organizers but there are others that can be more effective. Category matrices and webs can allow for more precise comparisons. Consider kinesthetic representations as well as visual.
 * Lesson Length

v What are your questions about the lesson length? You must have at least one. See page 15 (CRCSESL) or page 17 (CRCSSSL). Each day the teacher reads the story twice. If these were longer stories, how does this affect the time of the lesson? Also, day three students are to compose paragraphs, participate in writing conferences, and illustrate their paragraphs after comparing the charts and listening to an oral example of a possible paragraph. This seems like it would require more time for students to be able to do all the writing and illustrating parts than the average 45 minutes a lesson. Would this be better broken down into two parts in order to keep students more engaged in the process? I agree with your ideas and appreciate you thinking this through... Every classroom will be different so educator must adapt published lesson plans. For example, I may be able to enlist the support of other adults to help with conferencing or some students may be proficient enough to peer conference. It all depends...

This lesson will be taught in 3 sessions. On page 15 (CRCSESL) it is stated that a session is about 45 minutes long, but depending on the learners' characteristics, educators may need to revise the lesson length. One question would be, is the first time a background knowledge lesson has been taught? In my experience, the first time a new skill is taught, the lesson always takes longer than the teacher expects simply because the students are new to the process. Another question would be, "How long are the books?" They are both picture books, but the teacher is reading them twice each day and doing a think-aloud and filling in parts of a graphic organizer. I would think that the third day would need to be longer. This lesson is designed for 2nd and 3rd graders. Students this age typically have problems writing paragraphs of their own even when the teacher does extensive modeling like she will if this lesson plan is followed. The students will need a longer time period to complete the writing and an illustration. What if students wrote their paragraphs as homework or drafted them on the computer? Would the writing conferences go faster? The days of a lesson do not have to be consecutive. There could be breaks for students to work independently from the educators and then come back for adult facilitation. Yes?
 * Note:** If you have worked within the constraints of a fixed schedule in which students come to the library just one time per week, there are many options for increasing the amount of time you spend with students. School librarians must think about the fact that NO other teachers in their buildings introduce and teach a concept on Tuesday morning at 10:00 and NEVER mention it again until the next Tuesday morning at 10:00. This is simply not an effective instructional practice. What are your strategies for getting out of the fixed schedule library box?

I have worked in schools with only fixed schedules. I have noticed that there is still time on the librarian's calendar to schedule blocks of time with her. I would collaborate with the librarian to schedule a block of time each day in order to continue the lesson until the students have gone through the whole process. This is also where it is important to advocate and use data to prove that the librarian is increasing student success through the time they have in the library so that the schedule is changed to provide teachers longer and more blocks of time. Our library has always had a fixed schedule. Before, the librarian would put out a sign-up sheet and you signed your class up for a 30 minute block once a week that fit your classroom schedule. This year, my first year, my principal decided to assign a grade level a certain time slot for the whole week based on a master schedule she made of PE, music and lunch times. She did this because some teachers needed "help" making their classroom schedules. It is very limiting to me. Most teachers are flexible and I am sure that if I asked them to change their assigned time one week to one of my free times that I could schedule some collaborative time with classes. If I can show that these collaboration are successful, I am hoping that that will lead to a flexible schedule in future years.

There is no silver bullet for moving out of the rotation/fixed schedule model. You are wise to demonstrate what is possible by coteaching with a willing colleague, collecting and sharing student outcomes data, and asking that person to promote your work as a coteacher. If all fifth-grades, for example, are scheduled at the same time on different days of the week (ex. all at 10:00 a.m.), then two teachers might cooperate and give up time one week to have double the time the next week. That allows for two consecutive days of coteaching... and deeper student learning.

Note: Open libraries where students can refresh their books at any point can supplement or even replace scheduled checkout allowing the library schedule to be used for standards-based collaborative instruction. v How is the purpose of the lesson connected—or not connected—to your idea of the type of instruction that “should” take place in the school library? This lesson would be a great opportunity for the teacher and teacher librarian to work cooperatively. Teachers and teacher librarians must work together in order to do the best for our students' education. Putting together two peoples' skills and resources will double the chances of a lesson being effective for the students. Having two people working on this lesson also allows for more individualized attention. On day two, the class is split into two groups so that the students all have a better chance of getting their response recorded on the graphic organizer. During the writing process on the 3rd day, there will be additional help available to the students who struggle with writing their own paragraphs comparing the two books. Agreed... and this lesson involves students more actively and engages then in deeper thinking than a simple read-aloud followed by an activity and/or book checkout. I see this lesson connecting to students background knowledge because at this grade level most if not all students have learned to read. Both texts are based on this prior knowledge of learning how to read. I also think that with the librarian and the teacher splitting the class in half for parallel teaching that this will lesson the amount of students per instructor. This helps students especially those that are shier to be able to share in a smaller group setting. It can also help for students to get more individualized help, if needed. I also think that having the instructors model the think aloud strategies for students is how instruction should take place. This gives them a real-life example of how to be successful in monitoring their reading comprehension. Agreed... co-modeling provides students with real life examples of how each person's background knowledge affects the meaning they make with texts.
 * Purpose
 * Objectives

Review Bloom’s Taxonomy: @http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm

v List at least one verb that is used to name what students will do for every objective in this lesson; list the corresponding level on Bloom’s. Use this chart. Lesson Objectives: Student friendly objectives for the three days: Excellent
 * Objective || Verb || Level on Bloom’s ||
 * Objective 1 || Categorize || Understanding ||
 * Objective 2 || Compare || Analyzing ||
 * Objective 3 || make connections || Applying ||
 * Objective || Verb || Level on Bloom's ||
 * Objective 1 || Listen || Remembering ||
 * Objective 2 || Categorize || Understanding ||
 * Objective 3 || Compare || Analyzing ||
 * Objective 4 || Write || Creating ||
 * Objective 5 || Illustrate || Applying ||
 * Example:**
 * Objective || Verb || Level on Bloom’s ||
 * Objective 1 || Identify || Comprehension ||

Children’s Literature, Young Adult Literature, or Other Resources Websites Graphic Organizers (Graphic organizers for both books are on the ALA Editions Web Extras Web site.) Materials Equipment
 * Resources, Materials, and Equipment

v Which are the different formats or genres used to support learners? Two books are being used, //Amber on the Mountain// and //My Name is Yoon//. They are both picture books and used in print format. //Amber on the Mountain// is a historical picture book while //My Name is Yoon// is just a picture book. Students will use two graphic organizers of the 5 W's and How Category Matrix. These will be large for the wall since they are meant to be used by the whole class and in groups. Students will also use a Text-to-Text Connections Rubric and a Notemaking Chart. Two picture books, //Amber on the Mountain// and //My Name is Yoon//, are used that have the plot summary of a child learning how to read and write. In //Amber on the Mountain// a girl that lives in the mountains never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. In //My Name is Yoon//, a child moved to American from Korea and has to learn how to read and write in English. These carefully selected texts fit with activating students' prior knowledge of when they learned how to read and write the first time. The other formats that are used are two graphic organizers. One, are two class sized Five Ws and How matrix that is used on days 1 and 2. Two, a Text-to-Text Connections rubric that assess students in four areas: contributing to the category matrix, sharing connections during the think-pair-share, writing connections in the paragraph, and drawing connections. Good v Which technology tools are used? If technology is not used in this lesson, do you think there are appropriate tools to help students meet the lesson objectives? Name those tools and how you would use them. The teacher will need either a data projector or an interactive whiteboard to project the Text-to-Text Connections Rubric and the Notemaking Chart. The teacher may also want to project the book she is reading. This technology is appropriate for this lesson. I agree that using either a data projector or an interactive whiteboard is appropriate for this lesson. To incorporate more technology into the lesson that would also meet the same objectives, students could use a software program to illustrate their text-to-text connections.

Good. Never let a published lesson plan limit your use of tools and/or creativity in supporting students in meeting the learning outcomes.
 * Collaboration

v How does this lesson maximize the benefits of two (or more) educators coteaching? Be specific. This lesson uses two educators in multiple ways. On the first day, the educators can provide more support to the groups as they Think-Pair-Share. They also share duties on Day 1 as one educator reads the story while one records data on the graphic organizer. Students will benefit from hearing models from both educators about how they think through a new story and it is a time saver. One educator does not have to stop and move from one activity, reading, to the other, recording, and wasting precious class time. On day two, the educators can give more individualized attention to their students and allowing those students to participate more in the discussion by having two small groups students working with their own educator instead of one large group working with only one educator. On day three, the educators are again sharing responsibilities and are able to add more to the students understanding of the text-to-text connections by offering more opinions and options than one educator could have had on their own. Also, when the students begin writing, they will have access to more help from an educator because two will be available to the class instead of just one. There will also be two educators to conference with individual students about their writing abilities. Good

Sharing the different roles on day one will also help manage the time and focus of students more because one educator is able to read while the other educator is able to write. This provides a smooth transition between the two activities. Also, the students will get to listen to two different ways how of the educators are thinking aloud. This gives students more the opportunity to see how the reading skill can be successful. The librarian and teacher divide the class in half on day two, this gives students a smaller group setting that can be more comfortable for shier students to be able to share and will help students be able to focus more with fewer peer distractions. It also helps the educators be able to assess if the students are able to move on from that particular skill. Coteaching will also provide more time to have individual writing conferences with students. I know personally that I was not able to conference with all my students during our writing block. Having another teacher in the room would help to reach more students during that block of time. Good
 * Assessment

v Are there multiple methods/tools for **educators** to student outcomes? If there’s one, name it. If there are multiple, name them. There are multiple methods for educators to assess student outcomes. Educators will assess the students' writing and understanding of text-to-text connections during their individual conferences on day 3. Good

On day two, students will be able to contribute to the class size matrix. The educator can assess if students are understanding how to add the matrix especially since the educator is adding the name next to the student's ideas. The educator can also listen on in during the think-pair-share time to assess how students are making connections. During day 3, the educators can assess the students' final product of the paragraph and illustration. They can also assess student outcomes during the individual conferences. Good

v Are there opportunities for **learners** to self assess? (AASL Strand #4: Self-Assessment Strategies) What are they? Learners can self assess by using the Text-to-Text Connections Rubric. On Day 3 as the students are reading their paragraphs to each other, they will be self assessing themselves as they listen to themselves, but also as they compare themselves to the student they are listening to. Yes, and they will. The classroom teacher will be most skilled at pairing the students because she/he will know their reading proficiency best.

Learners are introduced to the text-to-text connections rubric on day one. This helps students understand what they will need to learn and be able to assess how far they have learned the new skill. It gives them a way to self-asses during the different activities: category matrix, think-pair-share, their paragraph, and their illustration. It is important to introduce the rubric early. If this is the first time students are using a rubric, or using this rubric, they may need to review the rubric each day. Reading and/or writing Listening and speaking Other content areas Information literacy Educational technology
 * Standards

v What content-area standards are integrated into this lesson? List them. Use specific standards from state standards in Texas or the state you and your partner have negotiated. 110.14. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 3 Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills - Grade 3 (2) Reading/Beginning Reading/Strategies. Students comprehend a variety of texts drawing on useful strategies as needed. Students are expected to: (A) use ideas (e.g., illustrations, titles, topic sentences, key words, and foreshadowing clues) to make and confirm predictions; (B) ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text; and (C) establish purpose for reading selected texts and monitor comprehension, making corrections and adjustments when that understanding breaks down (e.g., identifying clues, using background knowledge, generating questions, re-reading a portion aloud).

(5) Reading/Comprehension of Literary Text/Theme and Genre. Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Students are expected to: (A) paraphrase the themes and supporting details of fables, legends, myths, or stories; and (B) compare and contrast the settings in myths and traditional folktales. (I wouldn't include this one. In citing standards, you can have an "A" without a "B".) (17) Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to: (A) plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for conveying the intended meaning to an audience and generating ideas through a range of strategies (e.g., brainstorming, graphic organizers, logs, journals); (B) develop drafts by categorizing ideas and organizing them into paragraphs; (C) revise drafts for coherence, organization, use of simple and compound sentences, and audience; (D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling using a teacher-developed rubric; and (E) publish written work for a specific audience. Good

(29) Listening and Speaking/Listening. Students use comprehension skills to listen attentively to others in formal and informal settings. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to: (A) listen attentively to speakers, ask relevant questions, and make pertinent comments; and See below.

(30) Listening and Speaking/Speaking. Students speak clearly and to the point, using the conventions of language. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to speak coherently about the topic under discussion, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, and the conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively. These will, of course, be demonstrated by the educators. If you include it in the standards for this lesson, then educators will need to make observational assessments since these skills are not part of the rubric, right?

v Which AASL indicators align with this lesson? Give both the number and the description for each. 1.1.2 - Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning. 1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. 1.3.4 - Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community. 1.4.1 Monitor own information-seeking processes for effectiveness and progress, and adapt as necessary. 2.1.5 - Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems. 3.1.3 - Use writing and speaking skills to communicate new understandings effectively. 3.1.4 - Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and asses. 3.2.2 - Show social responsibility by participating actively with others in learning situations and by contributing questions and ideas during group discussions. 3.4.1 - Assess the quality and effectiveness of the learning product. 4.1.2 - Read widely and fluently to make connections with own self, the world and previous reading. 4.1.5 - Connect ideas to own interests and previous knowledge and experience.

Too many!!! Please see the whole class feedback.

Motivation Motivation is also known as “anticipatory set” in the Madeline Hunter, EEI lesson plan design. v Will this invitation to learn be effective in capturing students’ interest? Why or why not? The students will accept this invitation because they will be able to talk about themselves and what they know. The students will think-pair-share about how and when they learned to read and write. They will be able to talk about how good they are and who helped them reach this point in their educational career. Talking about what they know will give them confidence in their abilities as they move forward in the lesson. I think that when students began to read and write the first time is an exciting part of their lives because it gives them another way to express themselves and learn about things. Teaching kindergarten, I have taught many students to read and even some students how to write their names. This is not something that students forget about and love to share with others about their success in it. I believe that this topic would hook students' into learning the skills in this lesson.
 * Implementation**
 * Process

Agreed.

v What are your ideas to increase student buy-in to this lesson? Give at least one. In order to activate the students prior knowledge about how they themselves were taught to read, I would talk to a kindergarten teacher and arrange a time when my students could go to their classroom and read with the kindergarteners. This would remind my students what it was like when they were first learning. I would create a PowerPoint slide that flashes a word every few seconds on an interactive whiteboard for students to read aloud as a class. You could even have students write a word on the carpet, in the air, or on their desktops. Then students could discuss how they learned how to first read words and write words.

All solid ideas...

Student-friendly Objectives

v Are these objectives at the instructional level of the targeted students? Give an example. These objectives are at the instructional level of a 2nd or 3rd grader. Third grade TEKS 2 B require students to find facts about stories so they should be able to find the 5 Ws and How from the stories for Objective 1. Third grade TEKS 17 A and B require students to organize and categorize information for writing paragraph so the students should be able to categorize ideas for Objective 2. 2nd grade students are also expected to use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text in TEKS 110.13. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 2, 17 A,B,C,D,E. This is also found in grade 3 English Language Arts and Reading. This TEK matches to the objective of writing a paragraph. v Are there terms in these objectives that may need to be taught to students? Give an example. If the students have not previously been taught what the 5 Ws are, then they will have to be taught what the teacher means when she asks them to listen for the 5 Ws. Students will have also have to be taught what it means to categorize. Students will need to construct a paragraph in this lesson. Students will need to understand the components of what a paragraph is. It states in parenthesis that the educators may need to provide a written model instead of just an oral example of a paragraph. Yes! we should always be coteaching academic vocabulary in our lessons. Giving students more opportunities to practice using terms in various contexts helps ensure they will comprehend them and use them in their own speech and writing.

Presentation

v Describe the modeling aspect of this lesson. The educators both model their thought process on Day1. They will model for the students how they find information to fill in the questions on the matrix for //Amber on the Mountain//. Educators can also model during Day 1 how to record in a notetaking format, which will show students how to form their own thoughts instead of copying the text straight from the story. They will model how they found the information before, during and after the text reading. The educators will model the same process with small groups on Day 2 with My Name is Yoon if necessary. On the 3rd day, the educators model orally and possibly in writing a paragraph about the similarities and differences between the characters and their experiences in these two books. In addition to the reading comprehension strategy, students will be able to see how the teachers are reading text fluently and with expression.

Excellent! Modeling, modeling, modeling...

v How are the benefits of two or more educators maximized in the presentation component? Having two educators during this lesson increases the students chances of hearing an idea or process that will help them to understand how to read a passage and look for the 5 Ws and How. The two educators will each have different techniques, ideas and ways of presenting those ideas to the students. One educator's way of presenting information may not be understood by all the students so having another educator to present the information in a different way might help those students who did not understand when the first educator taught. On Day 2, having a second educator allows for small groups. The groups can be separated by ability. One group might need modeling again while the other group does not.

Excellent! It will also be true that each educator will have different background knowledge... just as each child will, too!

On the first day, it gives the students several opportunities to hear how the educators are thinking aloud to fill in the information for the matrix. It also maximizes on the time component for one educator to record the ideas while the other educator reads and thinks aloud. On the 2nd day, with parallel teaching it will help maximize the student to teacher ratio giving students more individualized attention. On the third day, the educators are team teaching and involving students in the activity. It could also be one teaching, one supporting if necessary since the entire class is together.

I am always reluctant to encourage the one teaching, one supporting coteaching model with school librarians. One or the other person can quickly be demoted into the aide role. On the other hand, alternate teaching can be very appropriate and effective.

Student Participation Procedures or Student Practice Procedures

v Are the directions clear? Give an example. Yes, the directions are very clear for students. On Day 2, students are to raise their hand to pause the reading and then identify the category and share the idea. Students were shown how to find the appropriate category on the first day. Students will need to raise their hand to share his/her idea which can be a familiar practice in a school setting. The Student Practice Procedures are easily understandable by a 3rd grader. On Day 3, the steps are very clearly laid out for the students. They are written like a checklist for the students to follow. The 2nd step clearly states how the educators want the paragraph to look. It tells them the length of the paragraph, 3 to 5 sentences. It also tells them that they should have one or more text-to-text connections in the paragraph. If a student reads the procedures, they will have no problem making sure that they have completed all the required steps.

Good - These should be posted so students and educators can refer to them.

Guided Practice

v How are the benefits of two or more educators maximized in the guided practice component? The educators can split the class into two smaller groups which allows the students more opportunity to participate in the discussion about the Five Ws and How Category Matrix for //My Name is Yoon//. The goal is to allow every student to contribute at least one answer to the matrix. The educators will place the names of the students next to their contribution to make sure that all students contribute. Two or more educators will also help to be able to reach all students during individual conferences so that they can monitor students ability to write about text-to-text connections.

Yes!

Closure v Are students active in the closure component? What are students doing for closure? There is a closure component on each day of the process. Students are very active during this time and it shifts the focus from the educators to the students so that they can have the opportunity to share with other students what they learned or their own experiences. On Day 1 the educators project the Text-to-Text Connections Rubric onto a whiteboard or screen and the students are involved in the closure by reviewing and discussing this assessment tool. On Day 2 the students are actively involved in closure by performing a think-pair-share about similarities and differences between the characters in both books. On Day 3 the students form and inside-outside circle and read their paragraphs and share their illustrations with a partner. This activity keeps them actively involved in the learning process also. Too often educators summarize the learning for students. Be sure to keep students active in the closure.

Reflection

v How is the reflection component related to the learning objectives? The reflection component asks the educators to decide if text-to-text connections actually helped these students to understand how these characters felt and if there are any other movies or books that have characters in the same situation (learning to read and write). Objective 1 stated that students would be able to categorize their ideas about the characters' literacy experiences using the five Ws and How. Objective 2 stated that students would be able to compare these two book characters' literacy experiences and Objective 3 states that students would be able to make text-to-text connections as they respond in writing and through drawing. Both Objectives 1 and 2 incorporate how characters feel as part of the information that students are finding in the text. If students can explain how the characters in both books felt, like the reflection component requires, then the students have accomplished Objectives 1 and 2. The reflection component asks if there are other books or movies where characters are learning to read and write. This component would relate to Objectives 2 and 3 where the students are asked to compare characters from each book. Ideally the students would then be able to connect to other books and movies in their lives. Yes to the ideal... and repeat as necessary...

By using the Five Ws and How graphic organizer it helps students break down the components of each story including the characters. It also helps students be able to compare the two books in the same areas. Students also had to write and illustrate the seen connections when the charts were side by side. By accomplishing these three learning objectives, students are then able to understand how to make text-to-text connections and reflect on them. The reflection goes a step further beyond the learning objectives and invites students to activate their prior knowledge of previous read books or movies they have watch to order to make more connections. This could lead into a further assignment. Agreed


 * Extensions

v What are your other ideas for extensions to this lesson? Describe at least one. At the beginning of the lesson on Day 1, the students used a think-pair-share to talk about their first experiences with reading and writing. The students could fill in a category matrix about their own personal experiences and write a second paragraph comparing themselves to one of the book characters of their choosing. They could also use their personal category matrix to work with a partner and compare their own experiences to those of the partner. This would be a great opportunity to have students practice more text-to-text connections by doing an author study. Students could learn about an author and read many books by him/her. Then students could pick two of their favorite books to do a text-to-text connection. They could also use a Web 2.0 tool to make the text-to-text connections. //The Wednesday Surprise// by Eve Bunting is another great book that students could use to compare to the plot summary of someone learning to read; this time it is a granddaughter teaching a grandmother.

Yes to further students' study of literacy development. You noting The Wednesday Surprise may me think! What if they interviewed a family member or neighbor about how she/he learned to read and write. Could this become an inquiry study into literacy?


 * Remember: ** Extensions are further invitations to classroom-library collaboration. They are worth thinking about during the planning stage!


 * 30 Possible Points**


 * Plus Individual Reflection – 20 Possible Points – See the A.3.1 Rubric for details.**