Reading, Speaking, and Listening: Describing the Sun and What It “Sees” | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G1:M2:U3:L6

Reading, Speaking, and Listening: Describing the Sun and What It “Sees”

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RL.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • RL.1.10: With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
  • SL.1.2: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
  • SL.1.4: Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can ask and answer questions about day based on the text What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. (RL.1.1, RL.1.10)
  • I can describe what the sun "sees" using evidence from pictures, videos, and the text. (SL.1.2, SL.1.4)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During the focused read-aloud in Work Time A, use the Reading Literature Checklist to track students' progress toward RL.1.1 and RL.1.10 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • During Work Time B, circulate and listen for students to use words and phrases acquired through the read-aloud during the Role-Play protocol. Note how students are interacting with one another using the Speaking and Listening Checklist (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Building Vocabulary: Interactive Word Wall (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Focused Read-aloud: What the Sun Sees, Pages 1-16 (15 minutes)

B. Role-Play: What the Sun Sees, Selected Pages (10 minutes)

C. Making Observations What the Sun "Sees" (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflecting on Learning (10 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • This lesson follows a similar pattern to Lesson 2. Students have multiple opportunities to build their schema around what happens during the day through reading and the close viewing of pictures and video. This schema aids students' understanding and their use of evidence and detail in writing.
  • Young learners' comprehension is enhanced through routine and the opportunity to interact with new information in kinesthetic ways. The familiar routines of the Role-Play and Interactive Word Wall protocols will promote student comprehension and engagement.
  • In Work Time C, students watch two 2-minute videos from YouTube and Videezy.
    • Citation: Whitmarsh, Andrew. "British Wildlife Filmed on a DSLR." YouTube. 30 June 2014. Web. 16 June 2016. (For display. Used by permission.)
      • Purpose: to observe what goes on during the day in a wildlife setting
    • Citation: bk-vids. "Street Time Lapse." Videezy. (For display. Used by permission.)
      • Purpose: to observe what goes on during the day in an urban setting

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lesson 2, students focused on the section about the moon from What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. In this lesson, students zoom in on details about the sun in the section What the Sun Sees and ideas are gathered on the What the Sun Sees anchor chart and Adjectives anchor chart.
  • In the Closing, students reflect on habits of character, specially their use of respect throughout the lesson. They use the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and the Sit, Kneel, Stand protocol. Review the anchor chart and protocol as needed.
  • Continue to use Goal 1-3 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Although the Role-Play protocol is familiar from Unit 1, some students may continue to need support with their oral language. Provide sentence stems, modeled actions, and props as needed.
  • As noted in Lesson 2, students may grapple with the idea of personification and that the sun does not actually "see." Continue to reinforce student understanding by asking questions like: "Does the sun really see things? Does the sun have eyes? Why do you think the author described the sun this way?"

Down the road:

  • This lesson lays the foundation (observations and knowledge) that students will use when writing their individual "What the Sun Sees" narrative poems.

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • New Interactive Word Wall cards for dim and fiery and add them to the set from Lessons 2-4(see supporting materials).
    • Day photograph 1 and day photograph 2 in color, if possible.
    • Technology necessary to play "British Wildlife Filmed on a DSLR" and "Times Square--Manhattan, New York" in Work Time C.
  • Pre-determine:
      • Small groups of 2-3 students for the Interactive Word Wall protocol.
      • Pairs for the Role-Play protocol. Consider pairing students with varying levels of language proficiency. The students with greater language proficiency can serve as models in their partnership, initiating discussion and providing implicit sentence frames.
  • Review the Role-Play and Sit, Kneel, Stand protocols. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list). 

Tech and Multimedia

Consider using an interactive white board or document camera to display lesson materials.

  • If you recorded students participating in the Role-Play protocol in Unit 1, play this video to remind them of what to do.
  • Work Time C: Show daytime videos:

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 1.I.A.1 and 1.I.B.5

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to act out as one way of understanding the meaning of the text and explicitly discuss adjectives. Consider asking students how they might translate a similar phrase (e.g., sleeping children) in their home language, and whether the adjective system is the same (i.e., adjective + noun/thing).
  • ELLs may find forming complete sentences challenging, because their home language system may specify different rules for communicating. See the Language Dive for suggestions to help students prepare for the requirements of writing complete sentences in the Unit 3 Assessment.
  • In Work Time A of this lesson, ELLs may participate in an optional Language Dive that guides them through the meaning of a sentence from What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. The focus of this Language Dive is examining adjectives and their function in a sentence. Students then apply their understanding of the meaning and structure of this sentence when writing their narrative poems for their Unit 3 assessment. Preview the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the language goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting materials). Refer to the Tools page for additional information regarding a consistent Language Dive routine. Create a "Language Chunk Wall"--an area in the classroom where students can display and categorize the academic phrases discussed in the Language Dive.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Consider inviting students to add sketches to represent the meaning of the Interactive Word Wall cards in Opening A.
  • During the Language Dive, challenge students to generate questions about the sentence before asking the prepared questions, based on their experience with the Mini Language Dive in Lesson 1. Example: "What questions can we ask about this sentence? Let's see if we can answer them together." (Why did the writer put quiet before barnyards?)

For heavier support:

  • During the focused read-aloud, help students who need heavier support by inviting a more proficient student to dictate lines for them to recite so that they practice using verbal language.
  • Consider copying and cutting into strips some or all of the sentences from What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. (Example: The sun/sees/blue skies.) Scramble them and invite students to resequence them into complete sentences, identifying in each the "main character" (subject) with the corresponding "what the main character does" (verb) or "more about the main character" (predicate).

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In this lesson, students reflect on how they upheld respect for themselves and their classmates. Some students may struggle to recall all the aspects of the lesson if it is only presented orally. Offer alternatives for auditory information by listing the activities completed in this lesson on chart paper or a white board for students to refer to.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): As students begin independent writing, vary methods for fine motor responses by offering options for drawing utensils (e.g., thick markers or colored pencils) and writing tools (e.g., fine-tipped markers, pencil grips, slant boards). Some students may forget their sentence ideas once they begin directing their efforts toward writing. Support strategy development by modeling how to physically touch the words/spaces on the sentence frame and draw lines for additional words you intend to write. This will help students recall their original ideas throughout the writing process.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): During the focused read aloud of What the Sun Sees, some students may need explicit prompts to relate to the text. Optimize relevance by making the information in the text personalized and contextualized to students' lives. For example, pause as appropriate and ask students to share connections to the text based on their own lives: "What is one thing you are doing that the sun might be seeing? What time of day does the sun see you playing outside?"

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

New:

  • crowded, bustling, noisy (T)

Review:

  • adjective, sun, day (L)

Materials

  • Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart (begun in Lesson 2)
  • Interactive Word Wall cards (from Lesson 4 and new; teacher-created; one set per group)
  • Arrow cards (from Lesson 2; one set per group)
  • What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees (one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • Reading Literature Checklist (for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Adjectives anchor chart (begun in Unit 2, Lesson 4; added to during Work Time A; see supporting materials)
  • What the Sun Sees anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Work Time A; see supporting materials)
  • What the Sun Sees anchor chart (answers, for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive Guide: What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees (optional; for ELLs; for teacher reference)
  • Sentence Strip Chunks: What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees (optional; for ELLs; one to display)
  • Role-Play Protocol anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 4)
  • Speaking and Listening Checklist (for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Day photograph 1 (one to display)
  • Day photograph 2 (one to display)
  • "British Wildlife Filmed on a DSLR" (video; play 5:45-7:45; see Teaching Notes)
  • "Street Time Lapse" (video; play in entirety; see Teaching Notes)
  • Sit, Kneel, Stand Protocol anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 5)
  • Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 4)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Building Vocabulary: Interactive Word Wall (10 minutes)

  • Tell students that they are going to use the Interactive Word Wall protocol again to make more connections between words, grow their brains, and become even stronger readers and writers. Today they will add to the set some adjectives that describe the sun.
  • Remind students that they used this protocol in Lessons 2-4 and review as necessary using the Interactive Word Wall Protocol anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Move students into the pre-determined small groups and distribute the sets of Interactive Word Wall cards and arrow cards. Use the same process from Lesson 3 to guide students through the protocol.
  • Direct students to move to the whole group meeting area.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is one connection you made during the Interactive Word Wall protocol?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Give students specific, positive feedback about the connections they made between words. (Example: "Joel, I heard you connect orange with large because at sunrise the sun often looks large and orange.")
  • As students explain the connection between words, provide sentence frames to support oral language processing. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: Consider inviting students to discuss the meaning of the Interactive Word Wall cards in home language groups before beginning the Interactive Word Wall protocol.
  • For ELLs: Check for comprehension by inviting students to paraphrase the rational for each connection in their own words. Restate or rephrase as necessary.

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Focused Read-aloud: What the Sun Sees, Pages 1-16 (15 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read them aloud:
    • "I can ask and answer questions about day based on the text What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees."
    • "I can describe what the sun 'sees' using evidence from pictures, videos, and the text."
  • Display What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. Model using the front cover of the text to decide where to begin reading. Say: "Today we are going to read just the part of the book about the sun. I can find that section of the book by looking at the cover and finding the picture of the sun."
  • Consider using the Reading Literature Checklist during the focused read-aloud to track students' progress toward Rl.1.1 and RL.1.10.
  • Read pages 1-4 fluently and without interruption.
  • Pause after reading page 4. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you see in the illustrations that helps you know it is a crowded barnyard?" (There are a lot of animals and very little space.)

"What does crowded mean?" (full; no space)

  • Confirm students' definition of crowded and point out that it is being used as an adjective because it describes what the barnyard looks like.
  • Add crowded to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • Draw students' attention back to the text and read aloud pages 5-8 fluently and without interruption.
  • Pause after reading page 8. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What do you see in the illustrations that could show the street is bustling?" (There are a lot of taxis and people; it looks busy.)

"What do you think bustling means?" (busy)

  • Confirm students' definition of bustling and point out that it is being used as an adjective because it describes the street.
  • Add bustling to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • Draw students' attention back to the text and read aloud pages 9-10 fluently and without interruption.
  • Pause after reading page 10. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"Why do you think the author describes the playground as noisy?" (When kids play, they make a lot of noise.)

"What do you think noisy means?" (a lot of noise; very loud)

  • Confirm students' definition of noisy and point out that it is being used as an adjective because it describes the sounds of the playground.
  • Add noisy to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • If productive, cue students with a challenge:

"What if we remove the words crowded, bustling, and noisy? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." Reread the sentences, omitting the adjectives. (Responses will vary.)

"Can you figure out the connection between these adjectives and the adjectives quiet, empty, and silent?]

I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner. (Responses will vary, but could include: They are opposites, or near opposites.)

  • Draw students' attention back to the text and read aloud pages 11-16 fluently and without interruption.
  • Direct students' attention to the What the Sun Sees anchor chart and tell them that they are now going to look back at the illustrations to generate ideas of what the sun sees in daytime during this story.
  • Flip through the illustrations on pages 1-16. Pause at each page and invite students to say out loud what the sun sees on each page and add it to the What the Sun Sees anchor chart. Refer to the What the Sun Sees anchor chart (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Tell students that they are going to continue generating ideas about what the sun might see as they observe some photographs and videos of the world during the day, but first they are going to use the Role-Play protocol to act out some selected pages from What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees.
  • As students are invited to share their thinking, support oral language and processing by allowing ample wait time. (MME, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: During or after Work Time A, guide students through a Language Dive. Refer to Language Dive Guide: What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. Display Sentence Strip Chunks: What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees.

B. Role-Play: What the Sun Sees, Selected Pages (10 minutes)

  • Share with students that they will now get a chance to show their understanding of some of the different things the sun "sees" in What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees using the Role-Play protocol. Remind students that they used this protocol in Lesson 2 and review using the Role-Play protocol anchor chart as needed. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Invite students to begin role-playing the following sections of text:
    • Pages 3-4 (crowded barnyards)
    • Pages 7-8 (bustling streets)
    • Pages 13-14 (busy children)
  • Circulate as students role-play and use the Speaking and Listening Checklist to track students' progress toward SL.1.2 and SL.1.4.
  • Give students specific, positive feedback on their ability to role-play sections of What the Sun Sees, What the Moon Sees. (Example: "Carlos, you demonstrated how a street can be bustling by pretending to be in a traffic jam with Benjamin.")
  • Facilitate personal coping and self-regulation skills by modeling socially appropriate ways to express enthusiasm and excitement during the role-play. Examples: give yourself a hug or take a deep breath and smile. (MME)
  • For ELLs: Ensure that students put words to their role-plays. If students can't verbalize, remind them of the word or phrase and have them repeat it. Prompt them to repeat the word or phrase as they role-play.

C. Making Observations: What the Sun "Sees" (15 minutes)

  • With excitement, tell students that they will now participate in a close viewing of some photographs and videos to brainstorm some ideas of what the sun might "see" throughout the day.
  • Display day photograph 1 and provide time for students to silently view it.
  • Invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner:

"What could the sun 'see' or observe?" (an elephant walking through a forest or jungle)

  • Circulate and listen in as students share with each other. Record a selection of students' ideas on the What the Sun Sees anchor chart.
  • Display day photograph 2 and provide time for students to silently view it. Repeat the question from above and add a selection of student ideas to the What the Sun Sees anchor chart.
  • Tell students that now that they have made observations from photographs, they are going to make observations from video clips.
  • Play "British Wildlife Filmed on a DSLR."
  • Invite students to turn and talk with an elbow partner:

"What could the sun 'see' or observe?" (birds flying around, deer eating grass)

  • Circulate and listen in as students share with each other. Record a selection of students' ideas on the What the Sun Sees anchor chart.
  • Play "Street Time Lapse."
  • Repeat the process from the first video, using the same question.
  • Direct students' attention to the completed What the Sun Sees anchor chart and read through the multitude of responses.
  • Explain that students will use these observations to write a narrative poem describing what the sun sees beginning in the next lesson.
  • If productive, cue students to think about their thinking:

"How do our photographs and video add to your understanding of how to write a narrative poem? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." (Responses will vary.)

  • Before making observations, provide white boards and dry-erase markers as an option for students to record (in drawing or writing) their ideas. This will also help scaffold active viewing and listening for key details. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: Encourage students to use complete sentences with adjectives as they describe what the sun could see or observe in the photographs and videos. (Examples: The moon could observe hungry birds eating squirmy worms/a watchful deer drinking from a calm pond.)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning (10 minutes)

  • Remind students that the best learning happens when learners check to see how well they are doing and what they can do to be even better. Tell students they will use the Sit, Kneel, Stand protocol to assess how they upheld respect for themselves and their classmates throughout the lesson. Remind them that they used this protocol in Module 1 and review the Sit, Kneel, Stand Protocol anchor chart as necessary. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Direct students' attention to the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and review the habit of respect.
  • Guide students through the protocol using the question:

"How did you uphold respect during today's lesson?"

  • Invite students to return to their seats and cold call two to three students to share their thoughts.
  • Prompt students to clarify and justify their thinking with questions such as:

"Why do you think the class showed respect?"

"What can our class do a little better next time?"

  • Provide specific, positive feedback to students on their ability to uphold a respectful classroom. Tell them that in the next few lessons, they will begin writing their independent "What the Sun Sees" poems and that it will be important to uphold the habits of character as they work to create a beautiful, high-quality poem.
  • After students share their reflections, foster a sense of community and provide options for physical action by inviting them to give themselves a special applause. (MME)
  • For ELLs: Before introducing the Sit, Kneel, Stand protocol, ask students to brainstorm a few ways they showed respect during parts of this lesson. Write and display these ideas to reinforce language.

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