Katherine Brown

Lesson Plan: Tiered Lesson Plan

June 27, 2007

Introduction

Lesson Title: Thats Knot What I Mint! (A Homophone Lesson)

Lesson Synopsis:
This lesson teaches about homophones using the tiered lesson strategy. Students will be
grouped based on their ability level regarding homophones.

Audience:
This lesson will be taught with a mixed-ability second grade classroom with a gifted and
ESOL cluster.

Objectives:
The student will be able to recognize and apply the appropriate usage of
homophones.

Related Georgia Performance Standard:

ELA2R3c. Recognizes and applies the appropriate usage of homophones,
homographs, antonyms, and synonyms.

Materials and Equipment:

Various jokes and comics using homophones
Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia By: Peggy Parish
Homophone Fact Sheet
Website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/recognising/homophones/game.sh
tml
Homophone matching game
Paper
Markers
Homophone Assessment Checksheet

Procedures

Day One

Mini Lesson:
Begin by sharing a few comics and knock-knock jokes with homophones. Tell the
students that we are going to learn about homophones today. State that homophones are
words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Have
the class brainstorm additional examples. Tell the students that you are going to read a
book called Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia about a girl who gets very confused by
homophones. Encourage students to listen for the homophones while you are reading the
story. Upon completion of the story, have the students share the homophones they heard
in the book Good Driving, Amelia Bedelia.
Estimated Time: 20 minutes

Work Session:
Tell the students that they will now begin their work session showing their understanding
of various homophones. Explain each tiers activity and disperse the students accordingly.

Tier 1: Have students begin by playing a homophone matching game. They can then
choose two words that are homophones for each other. Have the students fold a piece of
paper in half. On one half of the paper, tell students to write a sentence using one of the
words and draw a picture to illustrate the sentence. On the other half have students do the
same with its matching homophone. Students may complete several of these depending
on time constraints. Upon completion of the lesson, display these homophone sheets
around the classroom with commentary.

Tier 2: Give students the fact sheet with various homophones and their definitions for a
resource. Have students write several jokes or draw comic strips using homophones.
Allow the students to share the jokes or comic strips with their friends in their group.
After the lesson, put all the jokes and comic strips together in a book to go in the
classroom library. Allow the students to think of a title.

Tier 3: Give students the fact sheet with various homophones and their definitions and
several Amelia Bedelia books for resources. Tell the students that they will write their
own version of an Amelia Bedelia story today. Brainstorm with the students several
situations in which Amelia Bedelia may be involved. Some of these situations may be
Amelia Bedelia as a veterinarian, Amelia Bedelia plans a wedding, Amelia Bedelia plays
football, Amelia Bedelia goes shopping, etc. Have the students begin to write a story
about Amelia Bedelia using at least 4 homophone combinations that confuse her
throughout their story. Allow students to spend several additional days on this activity as
a result of curriculum compacting. The students could edit and revise their stories. They
could then publish them into a book that could be placed into the classroom library.
Estimated Time: 35 minutes

Closing:
Play the homophone game on the website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/recognising/homophones/game.shtml.
After playing a couple games, allow a few students from each tier to share their products
with the class.
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
Evaluation
The students will be evaluated using a checksheet. The teacher will use the checksheet to
assess whether or not the students have met the objective related to the standard. The
teacher will also note any additional information on the checksheet.

Connection to Gifted Learners

Due to the mixed-ability levels within the classroom, this lesson seeks to provide a
differentiated lesson that is appropriate for all students. Often times, gifted students are
not challenged because lessons are designed to meet the needs of the average student.
However, Clark points out that gifted students often have, flexible thought processes and
a high level of language development and verbal ability (As cited in Reis & Small,
2005). Through providing students with an alternative activity during the work session,
this lesson looks to provide these students with challenging work that will continue to
develop their abilities. Gifted students also show an advanced ability at developing
original ideas (As cited in Reis & Small, 2005). Through the students creation of Amelia
Bedelia stories, they are able to piggyback off of an idea and begin to add their own
original ideas to create their own unique story. This lesson hopes to keep gifted students
interested in the material and having fun learning through a challenging lesson that more
appropriately meets their academic needs.
 Homophone Matching

theyre their flour flower

too two hare hair

through threw see sea

bored board new knew

 Sample Homophone Knock-Knock Jokes
a. Why did the man cross the road? To see a bear that was bare.
b. Why did the boy go to the beach? He wanted to see the sea.
c. Knock, knock. Whos there? Flower. Flower who? A flower made of
flour.
d. What do you get when you mix a story with a part of an animal that
wags? A tail tale.
e. What did the sailor say to the store clerk? I hope that sail is on sale.

Sample Comic Strip

 Homophone Resource Sheet for Tier 2 and 3
Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/recognising/
homophones/factsheet.shtml

What are homophones?

Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different spellings and
meanings, e.g. flower and flour.
You need to learn these words as there are no spelling rules to help you
remember them.

Here is a list of common homophones.

Homophones Examples
allowed You are not allowed to smoke until you are 16.
aloud She spoke her thoughts aloud (to say something so it can be
heard).
bear A bear is a large furry animal.
bare She walked on the beach with bare feet.
bored To be bored is to have lost interest in something.
board A board is a flat piece of wood.
break If you break something you damage it.
brake When you brake the car slows down.
find I can't find my socks.
fined She was fined 40 for driving too fast on the motorway.
flower A daffodil or a rose is a flower.
flour You need some flour to make the birthday cake.
hair She has really long hair.
hare A hare is an animal like a rabbit.
here Please come over here.
hear Can you hear that noise?
heal His leg is broken, but it will heal (get better).
heel Your heel is at the back of your foot.
hire When we go to Spain we'll hire a car.
higher The mountain was higher than the clouds.
hour There are 60 minutes in an hour.
Homophones Examples
our This is our house.
maid The maid cleaned all of the 15 rooms.
made I made the bed this morning.
new I spilt wine on my brand new shirt.
knew I knew the answers to all the questions.
one There was only one piece of birthday cake left.
won She won the running race.
pear I ate a pear and a banana for breakfast.
pair I won the card game with a pair of aces.
piece I ate a very large piece of pie.
peace He went on an march for world peace.
plain I painted over the wallpaper in a plain colour.
plane The plane landed late because of heavy fog.
pour Can you please pour some milk on my cereal.
poor He grew up in a poor neighbourhood.
see She couldn't see without her glasses.
sea I went swimming in the sea while on holiday.
shore She built a sandcastle by the shore.
sure I'm sure that I turned the oven off. (to be absolutely certain)
sight Don't let the children out of your sight.
site There were four cranes on the building site.
stairs She ran down the stairs to answer the phone.
stares He stares out of the window at the neighbours.
steal The thief got caught trying to steal the diamond.
steel The buildings were made of steel and glass.
they're They're is a shorter way to say they are.
their It was their dog that bit the postman.
there The supermarket is over there.
through I walked through the door into the room.
threw She threw the ball a long way.
to He isn't going to work today.
too Too is another way to say as well.
two Two is the number between one and three.
waste Waiting for the wrong train was a waste of time.
waist Her old dress was a bit tight around the waist.
Homophones Examples
week A week is seven days long.
weak He was too weak to lift the heavy box.
where Where are you going tonight?
wear Which tee-shirt are you going to wear out?
whether I'm not sure whether to phone her or not.
weather Sun, rain, wind and snow are types of weather.
which Which ice cream would you like?
witch The witch was seen flying on a broomstick.
whole Two halves make a whole.
hole There was a hole in his sock.
worn I am tired and worn out.
warn He tried to warn her about the wet floor.
would Would you like a drink?.
wood Wood comes from trees.
write I must write a letter to my friend soon.
right Right is the opposite of left.
 Homophone Checklist

The student is able

to recognize and
Participates in Follow-
Students apply the
Up Activity
appropriate usage
of homophones.
Abbie
Jacob
Madelyn
Santiago
Keiry
Ryan
Landon
Charles
Michelle
Philip
Lora
Mauricio
Jasmine
Mohamed
Trent
Emily
Isabelle
Lyle
Abigail
 Lily
Reference

Reis, S.M. & Small, M.A. (2005). Characteristics of diverse gifted learners. In Karnes,
F.A. & Bean, S.M. (Eds.), Methods and materials for teaching the gifted. (pps. 3-
35). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.