Classroom Lesson Plans
Lesson 1: Character Read n' Roll
Laura Candler is a classroom teacher that created a website that provides free online teaching resources. One of her activities is called Character Read n' Roll. In the first two chapters of the book Lost and Found, the Wills family is introduced. Instead of talking to the students about the character, have the students complete a character Read n' Roll on the character of his or her choice. Each student is given an 8 x 11 piece of white construction paper. The students will start out by drawing a basic stick figure of his or her character. On that piece of paper, write the book title, name of the character, and his or her name below the character. A six-sided die is rolled. Whatever number is rolled, the students follow the prompt that goes with the matching number. As each of the following is added to his or her drawing, be sure important details are included that give information about his or her character.
1) Clothing – Dress the character appropriately for that time period or event.
2) Dreams or Thoughts – Predict the characters dreams or thoughts.
3) Words – List a word or phrase would the character say.
4) Actions – Write about important actions the character has done.
5) Love – Identify details of the characters love or love interest.
6) Places – List where the character has been or where he or she wants to go.
Lesson Plan 2: Talking to the Text:
After you have read chapters one and two out loud, the teacher will model talking to the text. Chapter three will need to be projected either with an overhead projector or via smart board. As you read this chapter out loud, pause and record notes about what is read. Comments should be things that are understood or not understood. Next, give the students chapter four to silently read. Since the students cannot write on book pages, provide them with a printed copy, complete with wide margins or allow them to notate using Post-It notes, sticking them on the textbook pages as appropriate. Have students use marginal notes and other forms of annotation to comment on what they do or do not understand in their reading. Tell the students to read a page of text. As they read, they write any comments or notations on the page and in the margins that explain what they are thinking as they read. Their techniques include the following:
- Box, circle, underline, and star difficult words
- Draw arrows from nouns to pronouns when the relationship becomes clear
- Write brief notes in the margin space near hard-to-understand sentences and paragraphs
Lesson Plan 3: Think-Aloud:
This strategy asks students to say out loud what they are thinking about when reading.
The following is an example of a think-aloud:
"So, let me start by determining who Edmund really is in The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe. Let's see. The first thing that comes to mind is that he is
a boy. He is also a big brother and a little brother. He is the third child in the
family out of four children. So, I wonder if any of that information makes him
act the way he does. "
After chapter eight, the teacher shall model a think-aloud. There are general starters that can be used to help guide any think-aloud. If you chose to use another chapter to model the think-aloud, Appendix B has guided questions from Eliza A. Comodromos Teacher's Guide to The Bluford Series. The following sample starter thoughts can also be used.
- I just thought of...
- I wonder why...
- That is interesting because...
- I think the most important part was...
- I was confused by...
- I reread that part because...
- I think _____ will happen next.
- That didn't make sense..
- This made me think of...
- So far, I've learned...
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