Catherine Megison

INST 463-501
LESSON PLAN MODIFICIATION
Grade: 1st grade
Class: Reading Class
Students:
Class of 15 students
10 of your students are L1 English speakers
1 (Hector) of your students is an L1 Spanish speaker with
advanced-high English language proficiency from
Puerto Rico and has been in the US for ~5 years
1 (Mi-Sun) of your students is an L1 Korean speaker with
advanced English language proficiency from Korea and
has been in the US for ~3 years
2 (Flora and Miguel) of your students are L1 Spanish
speakers with intermediate English language
proficiency; 1 is from Mexico (2nd year in the US), 1 is
from Argentina (2nd year in the US)
1 (Lei) of your students is an L1 Mandarin speaker with
beginning English language proficiency from China and
has been in the US for ~8 months
Language Standard:
Student will be able to recite their part of the poem with 70%
accuracy.

STUDENT OBJECTIVES
Students will
Identify words in read-aloud books that help make the story
appealing.
Select a favorite page or passage from a book.
Select favorite words or phrases from children's stories.
Students will select favorite words or phrases from story in a group
of three and as a group explain why they chose those words or phrases

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

7.

8.

Create a class poem using found words and phrases.

In a group of three, children will make a poem using words or phrases
found in the book. Each group will write about a different religion,
country, city, or region.
Perform their piece of the poem in front of others.
Beginner and Intermediate English speakers will be given extra time to
perform their piece
Listen to and critique the performance of others.
Assess their efforts using a checklist.

SESSION THREE

Pass out the copies of the class poem to the students.Beginners and
Intermediates will be given a poem with important words highlighted and
with visual representations. Make sure poem does not have cultural bias
and all students can understand the material. Make poem reflect
multiple countries as well as sociocultural background
Invite students to share their reflections, thoughts, and feelings about
the found poem that the class created. Have a group talk about different
countries, religions, skin tones, etc.
Make any changes or adjustments that are needed to the class poem.
Simplify vocab if necessary
Ask the students to highlight their speaking parts, or allow them time to
make notecards with their lines.
Share the rubric with the students and discuss the expectations for the
performance. Older students can be invited to create their own rubric
based on the task at hand. Give all students a copy of the rubric with
simple, easy to understand vocabulary for the intermediates/beginners.
Allow advanced high students to make their own rubric if they wish,
check that it is sufficient and allow to remake it if they wish
Be sure to discuss the qualities of a good oral presentation. You may also
want to role-play or model speaking in front of a group. Invite children to
roll play if they wish, show videos of a good speech and of a bad speech.
Encourage students to dress up or bring in props for the religion, region,
country, etc. that their part of the poem is about.
Now that the students have a rubric in front of them, provide some time
for the students to practice their parts, alone or in groups. Allow them to
work on their ownfor majority of class, but for 10-15 minutes have
students get in pairs to practice with each other
Encourage students to memorize their lines in the class-created poems.
Give extra time for Beginners or Intermediates to memorize their linesperhaps have them memorize the latter end of the poem so they present
later than the person who memorizes the first part.

EXTENSIONS

Once students have experience creating found poetry, encourage them to

experiment with the Word Mover, creating poems from the selected
words, or adding their own. Have print outs of words and allow them to
manipulate the words themselves.
Invite students to write original poems in the format of their found
poems. For an example of this process, refer to the Poetry from Prose
lesson plan. Have students write out poems about their family history,
their home countries, etc.
Provide an example of a poem written in two or more voices, and explore
how performance poetry for two voices is different from choral readings
and reading for many voices. Roll play. Have students each have a
different character so they can hear to better understand the concept of
multiple voices.
Encourage students to add some dramatic flair to their poetry
performance. Students could add actions to their lines, if time is
available. Or perhaps, offer the group some rhythm instruments or other
classroom items to enhance the performance.
To further explore the Berenstain Bears series, visit these Websites:
The Official Berenstain Bears Website: This site includes book-related
activities, listing of all books, and online videos.
The Berenstain Bears: This site offers a complete list of Berenstain Bear
books.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

Monitor student progress during the lesson and as students work

independently through anecdotal notetaking and kid watching.
Watch for confused facial expressions, amount of interaction with peers
in group. Make sure ELLs are listening and responding appropriately to
group members.
Students can complete the rubric in writing or during a class discussion,

using one enlarged copy where student reflections are gathered.

How to demonstrate Story:

Have students enact story as I read it

Draw pictures of parts of story
Have a map to show where different countries are
Have students read and listen to story

 Do turn and talks- have students talk about story with

each other
Help make mnemonic devices to help students memorize
their part of the poem
Assessment:
ELL students will be graded; however will be required to recite
smaller portions of the poem than native-English speakers. ELL
students will be graded on content of their recital and less on
correct grammar than native-English speakers.