Aidan OBrien

Lesson
Title/Focus

Scranimals (brainstorming words to

describe)

Date

Nov. 14 2014

Subject/Gra
de Level

Creative Writing Grade 2

Time
Duratio
n

40m

Teacher

Aidan OBrien

Unit

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
Outcomes:
Specific
Learning
Outcomes:

General Outcome 4
Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to enhance the clarity and
artistry of communication.
4.1 Develop categories of words associated with experiences and topics of
interest.
Use knowledge of word patterns, word combinations and parts of words to
learn new words.
Choose words, language patterns, illustrations or sounds to create a variety
of effects in oral, print and other media texts.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Expand their written expressive vocabulary by learning new describing words and their
associations.
2. Create a list of descriptive words, relevant to their scranimals.
3. Discuss the application and meaning of descriptive words as a class.

ASSESSMENTS
Observations:

Key Questions:

Products/Performan
ces:

Do all students participate in and listen to the discussion?

Can all students form associations between certain actions and relevant
descriptive words?
Can all students compile a minimum of 3 descriptive words to describe
aspects of their scranimals appearance and behaviors.
Can students communicate what role descriptive words play in
writing?
Can students form relevant associations between actions,
appearance and descriptive words?
Students will create a page in their writing scribblers in the
what to write about section, divided into three columns
entitled: looks like, moves like, eats like.
Each column will have at least one word in it.

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Scranimal Island
Alberta Curriculum
CES Writing Objectives for Grade 2

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Scranimal Island
Scribblers
Pencils
Lists of descriptive words (on the
whiteboard)

PROCEDURE
Prior to lesson
Attention Grabber
Assessment of
Prior Knowledge
Expectations for
Learning and
Behaviour

Introduction
I will read a passage from Scranimal Island.
I will reread a sentence containing descriptive words to the
class and ask if any students can pick out a word used to
describe something within it.
I would like students to raise their hands to offer answers
during the discussion. Students will be expected to have a list
of at least 3 words.

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe

Time
1-3m
3-4m
1m

Aidan OBrien
Advance
Organizer/Agenda
Transition to Body
Learning Activity
#1
Assessments/
Differentiation:

Learning Activity
#2
Assessments/
Differentiation

Learning Activity
#3
Assessments/
Differentiation

Assessment of
Learning:
Feedback From
Students:
Feedback To
Students
Transition To Next
Lesson
Sponge
Activity/Activities

We will discuss the words on the lists as a class, then we will

start compiling our lists.
Introduce the first list looks like
Body
I will go through the lists of words relying on students to
provide definitions for the words. I will also ask them to
describe something with that words (use it in a sentence)
I will occasionally call on students who do not usually respond If
I think there is a reasonable chance they can provide a
definition. I will note which students seem to have a real grasp
of this material and begin calling on them less as we progress.
Examples: For students I know will have difficulty on their own I
will ask them what sort of animal they have created. The class
and I will brainstorm words to describe its appearance and
behaviors.
This will make the process of using associations clearer to the
class as a whole and provide some of the struggling students
with ready-made lists, that have been worked through.
The class will be given the remainder of the time to compile
their lists alone I will circulate and answer questions.
I want to pay careful attention to the students who have
difficulty getting words on the page, give them support and
keep them on task. Yellow group should have 6 words blue
group 4 and green 3.
Closure
This was a development class leading up to the next creative
writing class on Monday were the students will begin writing
sentences about their animals
Im curious to see what their comprehension of describing
words is. Since their ability in writing is so much less than their
ability in reading comprehension.

1m
1m
Time
10m

8-10m

10m

5m
10m

Time

Comment on how the process went.

Clear desks, writing scribblers back in boxes and line up at the
door.
If students finish their lists early I want them to work on their scranimal
illustration.

Reflections from the

lesson

Adapted from a template created by Dr. K. Roscoe