Olivia Graff

5th Grade Lesson Summary

8:00-8:20 Morning Meeting/ Read Aloud
This is a time for us to gather before our day starts and set the tone for the rest of our
literacy block. During this time, the teacher will draw upon the current focus of the week,
which is making inferences from fictional stories. The class has been reading together
and independently Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. The teacher will ask the
students to recall what has happened so far in the story and to state what inferences they
have been able to make thus far. Students have been working all week on practicing
making inferences and so they know how to use text from the story to cite why they
believe their inferences. The teacher will then read aloud the next chapter from Bridge
to Terabithia as the students listen quietly. The teacher will continue reading for a few
pages and then ask the students to mark the end in their book so that they can finish up
the chapter during small group. The teacher will ask the students to think about how their
inferences about characters and events have changed, what new predications they are able
to make, and if any inferences or predictions have been wrong. They will then talk with
elbow partners about their thoughts and the teacher will move around from pair to pair to
hear them discuss. After the time is up (probably 5 minutes), the teacher will report back
to the whole class about what he or she hear and learned from the students. The teacher
will wrap up the read aloud and discussion and move into the mini lesson for the day.
I came up with this idea based on the video Ricks
Reading Workshop. I liked how the teacher got on
the students levels and listened to what they had to
say instead of making them repeat it after they had
discussed with partners. This is something I want to
do as a teacher in any grade because it allows me to
really hear what they each have to say to each other
and how their discussions flow.
Standards:
ELACC5RL1: Quote accurately from a text when
explaining what the text says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the text.
ELACC5SL1: Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions with diverse partners on
grade 5 topics and texts, building on others ideas
and expressing their own clearly.
ELACC5SL4: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas
logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support
main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

8:20-8:40 Mini Lesson

The mini lesson focus of today will be on decoding the meanings of figurative
language in a story. The teacher will start out by asking the students what figurative
language is. They should have plenty of examples and the teacher will call on a few
students to give their ideas. The teacher will write these ideas up on the SMART
Board for everyone to see. They will define what a simile is and what a metaphor is
and how to tell the difference between the two. Students will give responses and the
teacher will write those on the board as well under proper headings. The teacher
will then do a close reading and model decoding figurative language for the
students. A specific page that has similes or metaphors in use will be used for this
activity. The teacher will read the paragraph, stop and wonder at the use of
language, and then use what she read previously and what she knows of words to
decode the meaning. Identifying the type of figurative language will also be included.
T: Today we will be looking at the use of figurative language, specifically in our story
Bridge to Terabithia. There have been a few examples of figurative language so far
and Ive noticed that weve been having some trouble figuring out the meanings of
the words. Can anyone define what figurative language is?
S: Its when you use words to describe something but the words you use arent
exactly what you mean. So like similes and metaphors. You compare something to
something else to kind of get your point across.
T: Great! Youre on the right track. Can someone tag onto what he/she just said and
maybe give an example?
S: Well, a simile is when you say something is like something else. Like you could say
my stomach is growling like a lion. Youre trying to describe it one way but you
dont actually mean it. You use like a lot to do that.
T: Good! Can someone give me an example and explanation of a metaphor?
S: A metaphor is when you say something IS something else, even if its not literally
something else. Like when people say you are my sunshine. They dont mean that
but theyre also not using like like they do with similes.
The teacher will now transition into a close reading of a paragraph from their story
that they have already read. The teacher will stop after reading the figurative
language and wonder out loud what that means. She or he will then go back and
reread the paragraph to get a better idea of what is happening.
T: Hmmm, I wonder what this phrase means? Lets go back and reread that
paragraph so that we have a better understanding of what the author is talking
about. Okay, I get it more now. Ive heard this phrase before. Im not quire sure what
it meant though, but now I think I can decode it. And knowing what we know from
this chapter already, I think that the phrase means
The teacher will model this two or three times and then open the floor for questions.
I got this idea from Ricks Reading Workshop and previous grade videos about
close reading and modeling thinking out loud. I like how the teacher models

explicitly for his or her students what he or she wants them to do. Focusing in on
one topic allows students to really learn what the teacher is trying to show them.
Standards:
ELACC5RL1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly
and when drawing inferences from the text.
ELACC5RL4: Determine the meaning of words or phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
8:40-8:45 Break
8:45-9:45 Reading Centers
During this time, the teacher will implement some aspects of the Daily 5 for the next
hour. The students have been working on this all year and know how it runs. They
will be doing 3 rounds of Daily 5, each lasting 20 minutes.
Center 1: Read to self. Students will chose a book from their book box and read
quietly to themselves for 15 minutes in an area of their choosing.
Center 2: Read to a partner. Students will have the chance to pick a book from their
book box to read to a partner quietly for 15 minutes.
Center 3: Small group with teacher. During this time, reading groups will be called
over to the teachers desk to work more in depth on their story and what they are
learning this week. Each group will be individualized for their reading abilities and
what their focus is.
T: Today, were going to work more on making inferences in our text. Were going to
each read a paragraph and then think about what we just read and filter that into
our inferences we already have. First, lets talk about what we know so far. What
inferences have we made? Good. Lets start reading.
The teacher will read along with the students and each student will read one
paragraph, getting through about 5 paragraphs total. At the end, the teacher will ask
the students to think about what they just read and if it changes anything they
thought about. Each student will have a chance to speak and share their inferences
and what they have gathered from the page and a half read. The teacher will again
model thinking aloud for them so that they have more foundation for doing it
themselves.
I came up with this based on what we have read from the Daily 5, multiple videos
from class, and also based on the video we watched on Guided Reading with Jenna
where she had students working independently as she pulled small groups and
worked on reading with them. I like how she had time for reading groups and really

go to work on what they needed. I want to include some form of this in my own
classroom because I want to teach all of my students in small groups. At my HullSanford placement, my teacher only has 2 reading groups and the rest of her
students go to various other teachers for small group reading. I want to be able to
have all of my students and find time to do small group with each of them.
Standards:
ELACC5RF4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
ELACC5RL1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly
and when drawing inferences from the text.
9:45-9:50 Break
9:50-10:05 Phonics Mystery Word Game
As a short brain break from the rest of our lesson, we will not play a game to get the kids
working on using phonics and spelling patterns to better pronounce words. I am basing
this short activity on Sample Mystery Word Match Round from Phonics They Use on
page 218-219. The teacher will draw eight short lines on the board and tell the students
that the mystery word has ten letters. The teacher will then write three clue words under
the lines (insisting, reformer, and inheritance). The class pronounces each and puts each
one in a sentence.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (re/sis/tance)
insisting
reformer
inheritance
The teacher will call on a student and they will ask if the mystery word beings line, has a
middle like, or ends like one of the clues. If the student guesses correctly, the teacher
write the letters in the correct lines on the board and the student continues to ask. If the
student guesses wrongly, it goes on to another student.
S1: Does the mystery word begin like inheritance?
T: No it does not, its S2s turn.
S2: Does it end like reformer?
T: No Im sorry, S3, your turn.
S3: Does it begin like reformer?
T: Yes it does! *Writes r e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Go again.
S3: Does it have a middle like insisting?
T: Yes it does! *Writes r e s i s _ _ _ _ _
Go again.
S3: Does it have an end like inheritance?

T: Yes it does! *Writes r e s i s t a n c e

S3: Resistance!
The point of this activity is to have kids pronouncing difficult words and pulling apart
their letters to find similar sounds and to mash them into a new word. The teacher will
play a few more rounds, selecting vocabulary that is appropriate to her class. Possible
words could be destination (Dessert, assassination, article), argument (regulate,
statement, artistic), and contestant (constitution, informant, pretested). The teacher can
keep points if the class can handle that. I came up with this activity based on Phonics
They Use pages 218-219 and I think it would be a really great activity to use with older
students to have them practice phonics, spelling, and working with vocab words.
Standards:
ELACC5RF3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in
decoding words.
a. Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication
patters, and morphology to read accurately unfamiliar multi-syllabic words in
context and out of context.