Amber Theiss

Midterm Lesson Plan

March 13, 2018

The Berenstain Bear’s Dinosaur Dig

I. Preparation for Reading

A. Activate/Build Prior Knowledge

Develop discussion relating to dinosaurs and ask students to share any knowledge they have on
dinosaurs whether its’ regarding, movies they’ve seen, facts they’ve heard, etc. Discuss the world
in the dinosaur age and discuss why it is important and interesting to learn about events that have
happened in the past. Encourage students to share some personal experiences they may have had
relating a historical or past event that may have shaped their way of thinking. Examples might
include learning about what happened on the first Thanksgiving or how they use prior knowledge
in every day events such as tying their shoes. Students may also be encouraged to draw a picture
of what think or might know what a dinosaur would look like. Use this opportunity to activate
students’ prior knowledge so that they will be able to relate to learning about dinosaurs so they
will understand why they are learning and hope this will help them retain the information better.

B. Preview Text and Make Predictions

Now preview the reading material with the students by conducting a Picture-Walk. Guide
students in exploring the pictures that are provided in the book in the order they are given. Ask
the students to look at a picture in the book of the dinosaur and the dinosaur fossils and predict
if this dinosaur lived on land or in the ocean. Guide students in constructing a “grocery list” of
what they would need if they were to go on a dinosaur dig.

C. Develop Vocabulary Knowledge

As discussion is developed during the picture walk and students are encouraged to explore the
pictures, pay careful attention to important vocabulary words that the students will encounter in
the reading. Be sure that each of these vocabulary words is elicited within the context of the
discussion and their meanings are discussed authentically. Provide additional explanation as to
the meanings of these words and ask students to visually locate these words within the text for
additional support if necessary.

Students will be able to describe what Brother and Sister saw in the museum and on the dinosaur
dig. Tier 2 words would include ferocious, meat-eater, skeletons, prehistoric, fossils,
humongous, and reptile. Tier 3 words would include Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops,
Allosaurus, Spinosaurus, Corythosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Spynosawrus, etc. Students will be able
to discuss a common theme found in these vocabulary words. Majority of the words are used
when discussing the past and used when discussing dinosaurs.

D. Set a Purpose for Reading

Amber Theiss
Midterm Lesson Plan
March 13, 2018

Encourage student to begin reading the story and remind them that dinosaurs are an important
factor of learning about past world history. Ask students why Brother and Sister wanted to learn
about dinosaurs so much?

II. Read
III. Respond/Support
A. Respond to purpose setting question/revisit

QAR – question answer relationship

Think and Search:
- Where were Brother and Sister when their interest in dinosaurs occurred?
Right There:

- Find specific words that demonstrated Brother and Sister’s excitement for learning.
The answer to the Think and Search question would be at the library. Brother found a book about
dinosaurs and showed it to Sister.
An example of a response for the Right There part may include the statement “Brother and Sister
really liked all those dinosaurs. Learning about them was interesting.”

B. Clarify additional concepts/vocabulary

Concepts: Story Map

- Have students complete a story map. Students will fill in the setting, major and minor
characters, plot, events, and outcome.
Vocabulary: After reading, have students go back into the story and have them point to the
vocabulary words that were discussed at the beginning. Have students explain what they think
the words mean based on the sentence. Then the teacher will clarify the ideas and give students a
solid and concise definition.

C. Comprehension supporting structure

Concept Maps
Amber Theiss
Midterm Lesson Plan
March 13, 2018

- Have students discuss the who, what, where, when, and why.
This will make the story more meaningful and clear, especially if this is done after creating the
story map.

D. Refer to additional sources

Making Connections

- Have students discuss the text with the information they know already.
Students have books on the Book Talk Website that they can make connections with. Were the
descriptions of the dinosaurs in this book similar to the dinosaurs in the nonfiction books?

E. Additional purpose setting questions

After reviewing the nonfiction books, is this book realistic? What are some aspects that are
realistic and some parts that are mostly fiction?

Some expected answers would be that the descriptions of the dinosaurs and fossils are legitimate
but the fact that they got to experience all of those fossils in one dinosaur dig was fiction.

IV. Review/Reread

Have students reread story as a small group. Students will practice a “Readers Theatre” where
students will reread story with assigned roles. This exercise concepts of fluency and tonality.
Having the students do the Readers Theatre will also help the students visualize and comprehend
the story at a higher level. This will help with students who read in their head in one tone and
without punctuation, helping the story make more sense. This exercise is a good way to further
comprehension.
Amber Theiss
Midterm Lesson Plan
March 13, 2018

V. Applying Literature and Extending Reading

A.Engage students in learning the history of Earth by having them create a timeline. Students
will use the internet to research the years of when dinosaurs evolved, dinosaurs became extinct,
and when humans populated the earth. Since the students have knowledge of what dinosaurs are,
this will give the students insight that they were once on Earth. This is important because it
sparks an interest in students to learn about the history of the world before their time and how
events are relevant to their lives.

Here is an example of what the students’ timelines may look like.