Scope
Anchor Goal: Characters and Settings
Category: Academics | Subcategory: Language Arts | Subject: Reading and Literature | EEID: EE000043
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Characters and Settings: Learners delve into the characters and settings of stories. They can practice by creating character maps or visualizing settings through art or writing. This is crucial so they can empathize with characters, understand their actions, and immerse themselves fully in the narrative world.
Sequence
Course Materials and Resources
Item Name |
Required or Supplemental |
Book Shelves or cases |
Required |
Books |
Required |
Magazines |
Required |
Printed Articles |
Required |
Computer Printer |
Required |
Paper |
Required |
Pens/Pencils |
Required |
Lesson Plan(s)
Materials needed: Book shelves, books, magazines, short story or article, paper, pens or pencils
Introduction:
Begin by discussing the importance of reading and comprehension skills. Explain that being able to understand what we read is a crucial skill that helps us learn new information, think critically, and communicate effectively. Let the students know that today they will be practicing their reading and comprehension skills with a short story or article.
Lesson:
1. Start by choosing a book, or distributing a short story or article to the students. Encourage them to read it silently to themselves.
2. After they have finished reading, ask the students to summarize the main idea of the story or article in a few sentences. Discuss as a group to ensure everyone understands the key points.
3. Next, have the students identify the main characters, setting, and plot of the story or article. Encourage them to provide details and examples to support their answers.
4. Then, ask the students to identify any unfamiliar words or phrases from the reading. Have them look up the meanings of these words and discuss how they contribute to the overall understanding of the text.
5. To further assess comprehension, provide a few multiple-choice or short-answer questions related to the reading. Have the students answer these questions independently and then discuss their responses as a class.
6. Finally, ask the students to reflect on the reading and share their thoughts or opinions about the story or article. Encourage them to make connections to their own experiences or other texts they have read.
Conclusion:
To conclude the lesson, emphasize the importance of reading with comprehension. Remind the students that practicing their reading skills regularly will help them become better readers and learners. Encourage them to continue reading widely and critically analyzing the texts they encounter.
Teaching Strategies
Cooperative Learning: Research shows that organizing students into cooperative groups yields a positive effect on overall learning. When applying cooperative learning strategies, keep groups small and don’t overuse this strategy-be systematic and consistent in your approach.
Specific Teaching Instruction
Lesson Focus:
Reading a fiction or nonfiction passage and analyzing main ideas, supporting details, and inferences.
Objective:
Students will read a fiction or nonfiction text, identify the main idea, and cite textual evidence to support their answers.
Time: 45–50 minutes
1. Pre-Reading (5–10 minutes)
Goal: Build background knowledge and activate prior learning.
Teacher Actions:
Introduce the topic of the text (e.g., climate change, historical event).
Ask a few guiding questions to activate curiosity:
“What do you already know about this topic?”
“Why is this topic important today?”
Student Engagement:
Quick think-pair-share or class discussion.
Make predictions based on the title and headings of the text.
2. First Read (10 minutes)
Goal: Build fluency and general understanding.
Teacher Actions:
Read the passage aloud or play an audio version while students follow along.
Pause briefly to clarify tough vocabulary words.
Student Engagement:
Follow along with the text, annotating key points (highlight unfamiliar words, underline possible main ideas).
3. Second Read – Comprehension Focus (10–15 minutes)
Goal: Deepen understanding and identify text structure.
Teacher Actions:
Guide students to reread the text with a purpose:
Identify the main idea.
Highlight supporting details.
Ask targeted questions:
“What is the author’s purpose?”
“How do paragraphs 2 and 3 support the main idea?”
Student Engagement:
Use graphic organizers (e.g., main idea and details chart).
Discuss answers in pairs or small groups.
4. Text-Based Questions (10–15 minutes)
Goal: Practice citing textual evidence.
Teacher Actions:
Provide 3–5 short answer questions that require students to:
Identify main ideas.
Make inferences.
Support answers with quotes from the text.
Student Engagement:
Write responses in complete sentences using sentence stems:
“The main idea is ___ because the author states…”
“I think ___ because in paragraph 4, it says…”
5. Wrap-Up and Review (5 minutes)
Goal: Reflect on learning and reinforce key skills.
Teacher Actions:
Ask students to summarize the passage in 1–2 sentences.
Review how to find evidence and identify key ideas.
Student Engagement:
Share summaries or reflections aloud or in writing.
Assessment:
Informal: Participation in discussion and graphic organizers.
Formal: Written responses using textual evidence.
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