Third grade Literacy Lesson 1 hour and 16 minutes
Objective: Students will be able to use details, examples, anecdotes, or personal experiences to explain or clarify information. (Standard 1)
Observe basic writing conventions, such as correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as sentence and paragraph structures appropriate to written forms. (Standard 4).
Evaluation: The teacher will have the students write a short paragraph (4-6 sentences) showing one way the life of Ben can be compared to that of Abraham Lincoln. In this paragraph, the students will also describe one way they can relate an experience in their own life to Abraham Lincoln's life. In this paragraph, I will be looking to see that the students are able to take description from the book and put it into their own words, through relating it to a personal experience.
Materials: A. Lincoln and Me, pen/pencil, and paper
Management Considerations: Students will sit at their desks quietly, taking notes on the book if they wish. The teacher will show each picture to the students, so all students must turn their chairs if they are unable to see.
Procedures: The students will be asked to stay at their seats for the story and take out a notebook and pencil. It is important to tell the students they will have to do a writing assignment after the book is read, so they can take notes if they want to. Before I start reading the book, I will explain that the writing assignment is a paragraph comparing one way in which Ben's life is similar to that of Abraham Lincoln. In addition, the students will also be asked to write about a personal experience that they can relate to the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Intro: The students will then be shown the book, and the teacher will read the title and author aloud. The teacher will then allow one minute for discussion on what the students think the book is about. (1 minute)
Next: The teacher will read the book aloud to the students, making sure to show all the pictures to the students. (10 minutes)
Then: As a class, we will have a brief discussion of the main points in the book. I will ask the children to give some ideas of the similarities between Ben and Abraham Lincoln, and also point out some good description words they may want to use in their own paragraphs. (6 minutes)
Then: After the book is read, I will ask the students to write a short paragraph comparing one way Ben's life is similar to that of Abraham Lincoln. I will also have each student write a way in which their life can be compared to that of Abraham Lincoln. (15 minutes)
Then: The teacher will ask for volunteers to read their paragraphs aloud to the class. If no students volunteer, the teacher will randomly call on some. (12 minutes)
Finally: The students will be given the chance to revise their paragraphs on their own. They will be given the option to trade papers with a neighbor if they wish, just to have someone else read what they wrote. When they are finished with this, each student will be given their own paper back. I will explain they need to go through the writing process; Brainstorm, sloppy copy, revise, edit, and rewrite. They will have some time in class to work on this, and the rest can be done for homework. When I have all of the papers, I will hang them up in our classroom for all to enjoy! (30 minutes)
Closure: The teacher will ask students why they think this book was important to read to the class. After the students answer, the teacher will explain that Abraham Lincoln was a very important man, even though many people thought otherwise for a very long time. Then, students will put away their Language Arts materials, and prepare for social studies, where they will be discussing Abraham Lincoln. (2 minutes)
Adaptations for children with special needs: For a child with special needs, a copy of the book can be given to the student if he/she is unable to hear. Also, the student can have somebody (the teacher included) help with the hand-writing part of the assignment.
After the Lesson-
Reflection:
What I Would do Differently:
