Teacher: Helen Oziem

Subject Area: Reading Acquisition

Grade Level: 1
st

Common Core Standards:
RL.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.1.2. Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their
central message or lesson.
RL.1.4. Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to
the senses.
L.1.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of
strategies.
L.1.5. With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate understanding of figurative
language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
Unit Title: Bilingual books/Bilingualism
Lesson Title: Are you my Mother?
Objectives:
Students will be able to discover and see the similarities between both the English and
Spanish language.
Students will be able to understand and connect vocabulary words in both languages.
Students will be able to recite back to the teacher the vocabulary words learned in both
languages from the story.
Materials/Resources/Technology Needed:
Are you my Mother? By Dr. Seuss (both with the English and Spanish language)
Paper copy of the story for each student
Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLU4ysRFQwk
English/Spanish vocabulary flashcards (both the English and Spanish words for bird,
kitten, hen, dog, and cow from the story)
Ipads (one for each student)


Anticipatory Set:
Before the story pose the questions:
o Who has heard the story of Are you my Mother?
o Who does the baby bird meet while looking for his mother?
Review the English/Spanish vocabulary words before the story, giving the students the
opportunity to practice reciting the words when the story does begin.
Objective/Purpose:
By the end of the lesson the students will be able to read the story in their own native
language and then compare its alignment with the second language. The lesson would
give them to opportunity to view English on the top and the second language (in this case
Spanish) right underneath it. By the end of the lesson the students will see how the
sentence structure between the two languages is similar, despite its obvious word
differences and connect the English and Spanish words and meanings.
Input:
In this lesson we will practice the concept of reading structure/vocabulary. I will be using
the side by side comparison of the two languages from the story to show the similarities
of sentence/story structure. I want to show the students that despite the obvious language
differences, that they structure is similar in a way. With the examples of their similarities,
the students will become more comfortable with the second language and create a
connection between the two languages vocabulary.

Model:
As I read through the story I will stop and pause when we come up to one of our
vocabulary words (from our English/Spanish vocabulary flashcards)/characters from the
story. I will hold up the flashcard had repeat the word in both languages. After I have
finished reciting the words, I will then have my students mimic my previous actions and
have them repeat the vocabulary words three times. We will repeat this action every time
we come upon on one of our vocabulary words.
Check for Understanding:
Throughout the story when we come upon our English/Spanish vocabulary words we will
not only utilize the flashcards (as stated in the model practice above), we will also review
what characters we met so far in the story (in both languages). For example, First he met
the kitten/ gatito, then he met the hen/ellos, and now he just met the dog/perro. We will
repeat this action every time we encounter a new character/vocabulary to check to see if
the students are following along with what is being read.
Guided Practice:
After the teacher is done reading the story and finishing the lesson, the students will then
be given the opportunity to look back and review the story in English and Spanish. The
students will each be given an Ipad, a youtube video will set up for them to view
someone reading aloud the story in both languages. While they are re-listening to the
story, they will write in their journals the vocabulary words they just learned every time
they are spoken (in both languages). The students will then be given the opportunity to
review different parts of the story over and over by rewinding or fast-forwarding to the
parts they need to review.
Closure:
Student will recite their new found vocabulary words, being able to identify them to the
story and state their meaning.
Independent Practice:
Student will be instructed to take a copy of the story home, and will be instructed to find
and identify other words in the story that correlate with one another (in both English and
Spanish) and write in their journal the words that match up (have the same meaning) in
both languages. They will then bring what they found to class the next day and share
aloud with their peers.
Rational:
When I was conducting my lesson plan, I thought back to different strategies I learned
throughout this class. It is vital to set up a classroom where your student feels comfortable and
safe. I believe that by incorporating the bilingual books in the classroom and the lesson, it will
help the ELL students feel more comfortable in the classroom. Having books that not only
provide the language they are learning, but also ones that have their own native language within
the book will help make learning the new language less scary. What the students need is not to
simply memorize English; they need to experience it, this is why incorporating their own
language is so important. In order to learn any new language you need to build off what you
already know and have obtained. This is what I believe my lesson does. It allows them to still
utilize their own native language while learning to obtain a new language. I believe that my
lesson also incorporates Vygotskys theory of scaffolding. I give them the tools with the
flashcards and Ipads, but then I let them use that information to continue on their own. I will
constantly monitor the students throughout the lessons (especially when they are doing their
guided practice on the Ipads), but give them the freedom to solve and discover on their own.
This will be especially done when they take their homework assignment home. Most of all, my
goal of the lesson was to create an assignment that would be welcoming to my ELL students. I
want them to know that it is ok if they do not learn or understand the new language right away. I
want them to develop properly at their own pace and will provide helping guides for them along
the way.