Lesson Planning Form for Accessible Instruction Calvin College Education Program

Teacher: Ms. Van Weelden

Date: 10 November 2016
Subject/ Topic/ Theme: Language arts/ Determining Importance in Expository Texts/ Identifying text features
Grade: third
I. Objectives
How does this lesson connect to the unit plan?
The unit plan teaches students the importance of nonfiction and how to read for main points. The first step to reading nonfiction is to preview the text features. This
lesson is the precursor to that lesson- it teaches students what text features are and how to identify them.
cognitiveR U Ap An E C*

Learners will be able to:

List examples of text features

Define different examples of text features
Apply their knowledge of text features by identifying the text features in an article.
Create a worksheet of the text features that they identify in the article.

physical
development

socioemotional

R
Ap
C

X
X

Common Core standards (or GLCEs if not available in Common Core) addressed:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5: Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic
efficiently.

In this lesson students will identify text features and search tools, and in the next lesson they will use these to think about the main information of a text.
(Note: Write as many as needed. Indicate taxonomy levels and connections to applicable national or state standards. If an objective applies to particular learners
write the name(s) of the learner(s) to whom it applies.)
*remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create

II. Before you start

Identify prerequisite
knowledge and skills.

Some knowledge of text features (students have been introduced to the idea)

Pre-assessment (for learning):

Outline assessment
activities
(applicable to this lesson)

The class discusses different types of nonfiction.

Teacher says that she knows that the students have talked a little bit about text features, and
asks the students to give her some examples.

Formative (for learning):

Students match the text features with their definitions

Formative (as learning):

Students match the text features with their definitions

Summative (of learning):

What barriers might this

lesson present?
What will it take
neurodevelopmentally,
experientially,
emotionally, etc., for your
students to do this lesson?

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The students will each create a text feature evidence worksheet by cutting out the text
features in a Scholastic News article and gluing them onto the text feature worksheets.

Provide Multiple Means of

Representation
Provide options for perceptionmaking information perceptible

The detective bulletin

board allows students to
see what they are
learning
Teacher talks about and
hangs up the nonfiction
text features poster

Provide Multiple Means of Action

and Expression
Provide options for physical actionincrease options for interaction

Students
play
the
matching game with the
text feature and definition
cards

Provide Multiple Means of

Engagement
Provide options for recruiting
interest- choice, relevance, value,
authenticity, minimize threats

Encourage the
students to act like
detectives in solving
the case of how to be
a good nonfiction
reader

Provide options for language,

mathematical expressions, and
symbols- clarify & connect
language

Provide options for expression and

communication- increase medium
of expression

Provide options for comprehensionactivate, apply & highlight

Students already have

knowledge of text
features, so doing this
activity will activate their
background knowledge

Students cut the text

features out of a
magazine and glue them
onto their text feature
worksheets

Provide options for executive

functions- coordinate short & long
term goals, monitor progress, and
modify strategies

Provide options for sustaining effort

and persistence- optimize
challenge, collaboration, masteryoriented feedback

Tell students that

everyday we will
uncover a new piece
of evidence of how
to be a good
nonfiction reader
(this will be done
through the teaching
of the lessons)

Provide options for self-regulationexpectations, personal skills and

strategies, self-assessment &
reflection

Discuss how our

long term goal is to
be good nonfiction
readers, but before
we can begin to find
the important things
in nonfiction text we
need to be able to
identify the text
features

Materials-what materials
(books, handouts, etc) do
you need for this lesson
and are they ready to
use?

How will your classroom

be set up for this lesson?

I will bring to class:

- Scholastic News issues (23 copies)
- Text feature worksheets (23 copies)
- The 2 evidence cards to hang up on the bulletin board
- Red string (used throughout the unit)
- Push pins (used throughout the unit)
- Poster of fiction vs. nonfiction
- 23 sets of text feature and definition cards
Students will use their own:
- Glue
- Scissors
Materials I am borrowing from Mrs. Peot:
- Nonfiction text feature posters
I will leave the classroom how it is already set up. While I am doing the intro and conclusion, I will
have students sit at the rainbow-reading rectangle in the back of the room. While they are completing
their worksheets, they will sit at their desks.

III. The Plan

Time

Components

0-5

Motivation
(opening/
introduction/
engagement)

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Describe teacher activities

AND
student activities
for each component of the lesson. Include important higher order thinking questions and/or
prompts.
o Teacher asks who likes books about
o Students raise their hands and volunteer
detectives. Ask students why they like
answers of why they like detective books.
these books.
o Teacher asks students what detectives do.
o A student answers this question.

Teacher says that thats right- a detective

has to solve a case.
o Teacher explains that we are going to be
detectives because we have a case to
solve. Teacher pulls out file.
o Teacher reads the tab on the case file:
How to Read Nonfiction
o Teacher asks students what nonfiction isgive examples.
o Teacher displays a poster comparing
fiction and nonfiction. Teacher and
students go through the poster together.
The poster ends with the point about text
features.
Teacher says that she knows that the
students have talked about text features,
and asks the students who can give some
examples- makes a class list.
Teacher confirms their answers.
Teacher gives one text feature poster to
each table group and asks someone from
each group to read the definition out loud.
Teacher collects the posters and without
showing the students the posters, reads the
definitions and has the students guess
which text feature goes with the
definition.
Teacher has a student help her pass out
text feature cards and definition cards.
Teacher explains that the students will
have a couple of minutes to match the text
feature cards with their definitions on their
desk.
Teacher gives students time to match the
cards.
Teacher and students review the text
feature/definition groups.
Teacher asks who has seen an anonymous
note in a TV show- the one where
someone cuts out words or letters from
magazines and glues them onto a paper to
give the police a message. Give an
example of what a note might say- maybe
the notes simply has an address and time,
and the detective has to figure out what is
going to happen there at that time.
Teacher explains that today we are going
to make our own anonymous notes- notes
that will give us a clue about nonfiction.
o

5-20

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Development
(the largest
component or
main body of
the lesson)

Students give examples.

Students volunteer text features.

Students read the posters.

Students guess.

20-30
30-35
Closure
(conclusion,
culmination,
wrap-up)

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Our clues will contain cutout text features

from a nonfiction article.
Teacher holds up the text feature
worksheet and reads the text features that
the students are looking for.
Teacher says that now it is time to practice
identifying text structures in a nonfiction
article and create our own anonymous
notes.
Teacher explains that with your issue of
Scholastic News, you will make your own
anonymous note by cutting out the
different text features and gluing them
onto your text feature worksheet.
Teacher has students help pass out the text
feature worksheets and copies of
Scholastic News.
Teacher gives students time to cut out the
text features and glue them onto their text
feature worksheet.

Teacher calls the students to the rainbowreading rectangle.

Teacher holds up a text feature worksheet
that a student completed.
Teacher goes through some of the text
features on the worksheet if there is time.
Teacher explains that today we learned
that it is important to know what text
features are before we can use them to
help us to read nonfiction text.
Teacher asks if students have ever seen a
detective board on a detective show- the
one where there is one central picture or
group of words that explains the main
case, and then all of the pieces of evidence
around it that give the detective clues
about the case.
Teacher says that we will have a board
like that to help us keep track of what we
learn in order to crack the case of how to
be good nonfiction readers.
Teacher points to the bulletin board that
has the main idea in the middleDetermining Importance in Nonfiction
Text.
Teacher staples in the first evidence card
that reads knowledge of text features.

Students pass out the worksheets and

issues of Scholastic News.

Students work independently and

complete the worksheet.

Student reads the card.

Teacher has a student read the card.

Teacher congratulates the students on
looking at the first clue in the case.

35-45
Your reflection about the lesson, including evidence(s) of student learning and engagement, as well as ideas for improvement
for next time. (Write this after teaching the lesson, if you had a chance to teach it. If you did not teach this lesson, focus on the
process of preparing the lesson.)
Pre-lesson:
I am afraid that this lesson might be a little under the time. Because students already have an idea of what text features are,
they might be able to quickly identify, cut, and glue on the text features.
Post-lesson:
The introduction of the unit went very well. The students seemed engaged throughout the lesson especially during the intro
and the conclusion. I think that using the detective theme and opening with talking about detectives was a good way to hook the
students. The students also seemed to like the detective board. Mrs. Peot was complimentary of the unit theme and liked how I tied
all of the lessons together. She also liked the board and suggested that I hang up one of the students work from each lesson as further
evidence of how to be a good nonfiction reader. I really liked this idea and implemented it. The students seemed to enjoy the
hands-on activity of cutting out the text features from their articles and gluing them onto their worksheets. One student asked me if
he could actually cut up his magazine article because it seemed strange to him to take a scissors to something that he usually reads!
The worksheets that they completed by cutting out different types of text features in an article tell me that they can identify text
features in an article. I graded their worksheets.
While I taught about different types of text features, I held up the text features posters, which have the type of text feature and
its definition. I had each desk group read one of the posters aloud to the class, and then I collected all of the posters. I veered a little
from my lesson plan because without showing the students the posters, I read one of the definitions and had the students guess which
text feature I read the definition for. I did this to help them learn the definitions because in the final assessment packet there is a page
where they match the types of text features with their definitions. However, looking back at the lesson, I should have had more
individual practice with this. This is something that Mrs. Peot and I reflected on. This is why I revised this lesson to include a short
text feature/definition matching game.

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