Understandings

Standards Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using selective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
Understandings: Adding descriptive words and adjectives improve writing by providing the reader with clear images. All good readers make connections to the world, other texts, and themselves in order to have a thorough understanding of the plot, characters, and setting. Summarizing is a tool that good readers use to remember key points of a reading.	Essential Questions: What are adjectives? What is the importance of using adjectives and elaborative detail when writing? Why and how do readers make connections as they read? What is the importance of summarizing? What are key points, and how do they help you to summarize a piece of literature?
Students will know: How Mazer uses adjectives and elaborative detail in the novel, Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear. The importance of making connections. The key points in Mazer’s novel, Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear.	Students will be able to. Find adjectives within Mazer’s novel. Add elaborative detail to their personal writing. Make text-text, text-self, and text-world connections while reading, Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear. Pinpoint the key ideas in Mazer’s novel. Write a summary of a portion of Mazer’s novel.
Performance Assessment We have spent a lot of this unit discussing the importance of family and friends through our discussion of the book, Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear. After completing this unit, your assignment is to write a blog, poem, role-play, or any other project approved by me, which describes your feelings on why the relationship between Sprig and Dakota changes at the end of the book. Why do they become closer? Then write a short paragraph explaining the importance of family and friends in your own life.
Learning Activities Personal Essay: Students write about their family using adjectives and elaborative detail. Glog poster- students will create a glog, which describes their personal connections. Summary- Students will write out or act out a summary of the last section of the novel, Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear.

1.Introductory information:

Your name	Shannon Williams
Date of Lesson	12/7/11	Name of school	Huckleberry Hill Elementary School
Grade level	fourth	Subject area(s)	Language Arts – family and friend relationships
Topic of lesson	Adding adjectives and elaborative details to writing
CT/district standards	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using selective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Instructional Group	Whole class and small groups.
References	http://grammar.about.com/od/d/g/description2ter.htm

1. 
   Materials
   

Copies of sample description excerpt Sentence strips Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear (pg. 1-51). Student journals

2. 
   Objectives
   

Students will define what adjectives are. Students will utilize adjectives correctly in personal writing pieces. Students will understand and describe the purpose of using adjectives and extended description in their writing and reading. Students will work effectively in a small group setting, listen to the opinion of others, voice their opinion, and both give and receive feedback.

3. 
   Procedure
   

Initiation

Hand out the sample description excerpt. Read it to the class, “"Three years ago at a flea market, I bought a small, white-beaded handbag, which I have never since carried in public but which I would never dream of giving away. The purse is small, about the size of a paperback bestseller, and thus it is totally unsuited for lugging around such paraphernalia as a wallet, comb, compact, checkbook, keys, and all the other necessities of modern life. Hundreds of tiny pearl-colored beads dot the outside of the handbag, and on the front, woven into the design, is a starburst pattern formed by larger, flat beads. Creamy white satin lines the inside of the bag and forms a small pocket on one side. Inside the pocket someone, perhaps the original owner, has scrawled the initials "J.W." in red lipstick.” After reading that, can everyone picture what this handbag looks like? (wait for response) Why do you think it is so easy for you as the reader to have such a clear understanding of what the handbag looks like? (call on some students) – That’s right. The author uses describing words that help the reader to make a clear picture or image in their mind of what the handbag looks like. These describing words are called adjectives. These adjectives or describing words are important to use as a writer because they will help you to present your reader with clear images and understanding of your subject.

Lesson Development

Work with the person sitting next to you, and find as many adjectives or describing words as you can in the excerpt. Circle or highlight them please. Share with the class some of the adjectives found in the excerpt (ex: tiny, woven, pearl-covered, etc.). I would like all of you to think of some examples of adjectives and I will write our brainstorm on the board. (Wait for some responses and write them down, ex: colors, emotions, textures, etc.). If you noticed we mentioned many of the five senses during our brainstorm of adjectives or describing words. When writing it is a good idea to think about your five senses to help you to elaborate or add in more details through the use of adjectives. All of you should have read the first fifty-one pages of, Ten Ways to Make my Sister Disappear. I do not know if you have noticed, but Mazer uses adjectives and many details throughout her book that help you as the reader gain a full understanding. I want everyone to take out their books and reread pages thirty-nine to forty-two. Once you have finished reading, get together in groups of two to three people, and I would like you to describe one member of Sprig’s family to the other group members based off of the adjectives or describing words that Mazer has used in the book. Once each person has shared, I would like the other group members to give you some feedback. Tell them if you agree with their description, if you pictured something different, if you would add anything to the description they gave etc. I will be walking around the room and joining in on your discussions.

Closure

Turn off the lights to get the students’ attention. When discussing each member of Sprig’s family with your group, did you and your group members have similar ideas of what each member of the family was like? (wait for response) Why do you think that all of you had a similar understanding of each family member and their personality? –That’s right. The adjectives and elaboration of descriptive details that Mazer used. She describes each person the way she imagined them, and the clear description helps each reader to see the characters the way she imagined.

4. 
   Assessment
   

The pages we just discussed from, Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear, was a sample of a personal essay that Sprig wrote for school. I would like each one of you to write a personal essay describing your family. You must use at least five adjectives to describe each member of your family. Like all good writers you should include these adjectives so that your reader gets an accurate idea of what each member of your family is like. You can use them to describe their looks and their personality. Remember to refer to our brainstorm adjective examples that I have hung up on the wall to help you.

5. 
   Modifications/Differentiation
   

Student 1	Jordan	Lower level reader
Jordan has been having difficulty keeping up with the assigned class readings because he is slightly behind the fourth grade reading level. During the group assignment, I will make sure that he works with one or two of the very strong readers. He will be able to gain a more thorough understanding of the assigned reading by discussing with the stronger readers. I will also be sure to speak with him individually before he begins his personal essay to make sure that he is following the reading. If he is not, I will work with him individually to review the main points of the first fifty pages.
Student 2	Lauren	Difficulty beginning writing assignments
This personal essay is an informal writing assignment, so I have not required all students to use a graphic organizer. However, Lauren has difficulty beginning writing assignments and freezes. I will speak with Lauren before she begins the writing assignment and give her examples of two graphic organizers such as a web and formal outline. I will allow her to choose which one she feels most comfortable working with. This will allow her to get all of her ideas out, and prepare her to begin writing the essay.

1. 
   Introductory information:
   

Your name	Shannon Williams
Date of Lesson	12/7/11	Name of school	Huckleberry Hill Elementary School
Grade level	fourth	Subject area(s)	Language Arts – Family and friend Relationships
Topic of lesson	Making text-to-self, world, text connections
CT/district standards	Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. b. Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
Instructional Group	Whole class, small group, and individual
References	http://www.glogster.com/ http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/c_i_resources/Summer%20Staff%20Development.htm

2. 
   Materials
   

Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear, by Norma Mazer (pg. 52-100) Text-to-self connections poster Sticky notes Connections chart Computer-glogster.com

3. 
   Objectives
   

Students will utilize the text to make text-to-self, world, and text connections correctly. Students will understand and describe why it is important to make connections while reading.

4. 
   Procedure
   

Initiation

Have any of you ever felt a connection to a character in a book that we have read in class or that you have read during your own free time? (wait for student responses) Did that connection help you to understand or enjoy the book more? (wait for responses)- That’s right. Connecting a book back to your own life can help you to understand the book better because you can feel emotions similar to the character; it makes the story seem more realistic, and makes the book more enjoyable. Can anyone now tell me in their own words what a connection is? Yes! A connection is a way of making a comparison of the book to your own life, but can you make connections to other things? Not only can you make text-to-self connections, but you can also make connections or comparisons of a book to other books, poems, etc. or the world, groups of people, friends, society.

Lesson Development

All good readers make connections to the world, themselves, and other texts while they read to help them gain a better understanding of the material. You all should have read the next section of Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear. I am going to read aloud to you page 55 from the book. After reading the page, I say “I felt very nervous and anxious just like Sprig when I was waiting for the principal to tell me if I had been chosen to participate in the talent show.” Did everyone see how I connected my own emotions with Sprig’s emotions? This allowed me to feel Sprig’s anxious and nervousness as I was reading. I would like you to think of a time when you felt nervous or anxious and then pair up with a friend and share your text-to-self connection to a friend. Can any groups share some of their connections with the class? The same process can be done with text-to-text connections. Can anyone think of any ideas of textual connections? (wait for responses and record some of the responses on the board). There are certain sentences starters than can help you think of ways to form all types of text connections. Show the class the making connections posters (attached to end of lesson plan). These posters will be hung up around the room and help trigger some ideas of how to make these connections as you read. I would like each of you to go back through the pages we read of Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear, and place a post it note in at least five places where you can make a text-to-self, text-to-text or text-to-world connection. Since, we have been discussing the importance of family and friendships, I would like at least three of your connections to do with your own family, a family or friend relationship from another text, or about family and friendships in general. Once you have made at least five connections, get into groups of three or four students. I would like you to discuss your connections. Take feedback from your group members, to add more details to your connections.

Closure

Can anyone tell me the importance of making connections to when you read? (wait for response) I am going to write all of your ideas of why making connections is important on this sheet. (ex: better understanding, feeling in touch with the characters, etc). Our brainstorm will be hung up on the wall.

5. 
   Assessment
   

We are going to go to the computer lab, and make a glog. This is basically a poster made on the computer. I would like you to make a poster using your post-it notes that shows what connections you have made to the book Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear. Be sure to include pictures or videos of the other books, texts, or world objects that you have made connections with. There should also be a few sentences where you describe the importance of making connections while you read.

6. 
   Modifications/Differentiation
   

Student 1	George	ADHD
George has ADHD and has difficulty completing tasks when directions are given all at once. I will make sure that I have the directions for the post-it-note activity and the glog assignment typed up on strips of paper (one step per strip). When the students are completing the tasks, I will give him the strips one at a time. Once he has completed that step, I will give him the next strip. This will help him to stay focused and prevent him from becoming overwhelmed.

That reminds me of ….

That made me think of the time….

I can relate to that because….

Her problems are like mine….

This character is like the

character in ….

These two books are alike because….

The settings are very

similar….





I’ve seen kids….

In real life people would….

Everyone….

I remember seeing something like this on the news….

I know someone who….

1. 
   Introductory information:
   

Your name	Shannon Williams
Date of Lesson	12/7/11	Name of school	Huckleberry Hill Elementary School
Grade level	fourth	Subject area(s)	Language Arts – Family and Friend Relationships
Topic of lesson	Summarizing using details from the story
CT/district standards	Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
Instructional Group	Whole group
References	http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/wu_reading.cfm?str=reading&num=6 http://pages.northcantonschools.org/~hck/cgi-bin/link_list_page.pl?id=jle3nc&category=Language%20Arts%20-%20Reading http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/reading-comp/4th-pillbugs.pdf

2. 
   Materials
   

“Roly-Poly Pill Bugs” by Cynthia Sherwood Computer Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear by Norma Mazer (pg. 101-148) Journals

3. 
   Objectives
   

Students will define what key ideas are, and find key ideas from a reading. Students will be able to paraphrase reading material. Students will explain the importance of summarizing, and summarize given material.

6. 
   Procedure
   

Initiation

Can anyone tell me what key ideas are? (wait for response) That’s right, key ideas are the main parts or most important points from reading material. What about summarizing? Does anyone know what it means to summarize a reading? (wait..) Summarizing is a retelling of a story or article. When summarizing you will get quickly to the key ideas and details are left out. When you summarize it is important to paraphrase, which means put the main ideas into your own words. You want to say what the author is saying, but in a different way. Can anyone tell me why it might be important to summarize? (wait for response) Yes, summarizing helps the reader to remember the important points from what they are reading. All good readers practicing summarizing. I am going to read to you “Roly-Poly Pill Bugs” to show you how to summarize a story. I will read the short story to the class. Now, that we have read this, I know that one main idea from the story is that pill bugs are called roly-poly bugs. (I will write this down) I also know that pill bugs can live anywhere that is moist. Can anyone tell me some other key points (wait for response- I will write down all the key points in bullet form). Now that we have identified all of the key points, we must combine them into a paragraph (I will write this paragraph on the board).

Lesson Development

Take all students to the computer lab and get them onto the following website http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/wu_reading.cfm?str=reading&num=6 Now that we have discussed that summarizing is a retelling of the key points, we are going to have time to practice some summarizing activities that involve finding the key ideas. I would like all of you to try the first 3 activities on the website. I will be walking around to give you my advice. If you need any help please quietly raise your hand.

Closure

Back in the classroom All of you should have finished the book Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear last night. I would like all of you to take out your journals and write down the key ideas of the last section of the book (101-148). Once you have identified the key ideas, please meet up with a neighbor and share your journals. Make sure that when you find your key points that you are focusing on points that are related to Sprig’s relationship with her sister, Dakota. Give each other feedback, about what to add, how to paraphrase the key ideas or translate them into your own words, and how to remove details that are not needed. Edit your key ideas based on your discussion with your neighbor.

5. 
   Assessment
   

Use your key ideas to either write a summary of the last section of Ten Ways to Make My sister disappear or act out the key ideas as a role play with a partner. Since we have spent a lot of time focusing on the importance of family relationships, I would like your summary or role play to focus on Sprig’s relationship with her Sister, Dakota.

5. 
   Modifications/Differentiation
   

Student 1	Jeremy	Difficulty finding key points
Jeremy has difficulty with his comprehension skills, and it is difficult for him to find the key ideas from a piece or literature. I will help Jeremy find the key ideas of a literature by providing him with a graphic organizer that will give him sentence starters such as; the main event that happened in the beginning of this piece of literature is…… I hope hoping that the graphic organizer will help him to organize his thoughts without becoming overwhelmed.

roly poly.pdf (This is “Roly-Poly Pill Bugs” by Cynthia Sherwood, which I will be using as part of by before activity. I will only be reading the story. I will not be using the comprehension worksheet that is below the story on the pdf).