Unit 2 Assessment, Part II, Sessions 3 and 4: Drafting a New Informational Paragraph | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G2:M3:U2:L14

Unit 2 Assessment, Part II, Sessions 3 and 4: Drafting a New Informational Paragraph

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • W.2.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
  • W.2.5: With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
  • SL.2.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • SL.2.1a: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • SL.2.1c: Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.
  • L.2.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can write a conclusion about how my pollinator pollinates plants. (W.2.2, L.2.2
  • I can revise my writing to add adjectives. (L.2.1e)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During independent writing in Work Time A, continue to use the Informative/Explanatory Writing Checklist to document students' progress toward W.2.2 and L.2.2 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Learner: Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Unit 2 Assessment, Part II, Session 3: Writing the Conclusion in My Pollinator Writing Booklet (20 minutes)

B. Mini Lesson: Adding Adjectives to Sentences (10 minutes)

C. Unit 2 Assessment, Part II, Session 4: Revising to Add Adjectives in My Pollinator Writing Booklet (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment  

A. Pinky Partners Protocol: Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: 

  • In this lesson, students complete their My Pollinator Writing booklet for the Unit 2 Assessment. During Work Time A, students complete Part II of their assessment by drafting their conclusion (W.2.2). After participating in a mini lesson on adding adjectives to sentences, students then revisit their booklets to revise their writing to add adjectives (W.2.5, L.2.1e).

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • Students continue to analyze models to better understand the criteria for their writing booklets. They also continue to use adjectives to describe pollinators, which was previously taught with the song "It's Pollination Time."

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • During Work Time C, consider pulling aside a small group of students who need extra support describing their pollinator with adjectives.

Down the road:

  • In Unit 3, students will use their writing from the Unit 2 Assessment as a part of their Oral Presentation Poster for the performance task.

In Advance

  • 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.

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1 and 2 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 2.I.A.1, 2.I.C.10, and 2.II.B.4

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to demonstrate their content and language knowledge in a writing task built on their preparation and practice in previous lessons. Students apply the language structures and adjectives they learned to write about bees in their My Pollinator Writing booklet to similar writing about the pollinator they researched in previous lessons.
  • ELLs may find the assessment challenging. Encourage students to consult classroom resources and give them specific, positive feedback on the progress they've made learning English.
  • Make sure that ELLs understand the assessment directions. Answer their questions, but refrain from supplying answers to the assessment questions themselves (see Meeting Students' Needs column).
  • After the assessment, ask students to discuss which part of the assessment was easiest and which was most difficult, and why. In future lessons, focus on the language skills that will help students address these assessment challenges.

 

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Continue to support students as they generalize skills that they learned from previous lessons to set themselves up for success on the end of unit assessment.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): As students give partners feedback, support planning by providing individual students with small sticky notes to attach to their pages. This will help students remember places where they want to add or make changes based on partner feedback.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Students who may need additional support with writing may feel uncomfortable sharing their writing with peers and receiving feedback. Continue promoting an inclusive and supportive classroom environment by emphasizing that everyone is working toward different writing goals. Place emphasis on growth rather than relative performance.

Vocabulary

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

Review 

  • kind, specific, helpful, feedback, conclusion, adjective, revise (L)

Materials

  • Plants and Pollinator research notebook, Part II (completed in Lesson 10 one per student)
  • My Pollinator Writing booklet (from Lesson 13; page 6; one per student)
  • Criteria for Writing Booklet anchor chart (begun in Lesson 11)
  • Shared Writing: Bees (completed in Lesson 11)
  • My Pollinator Writing booklet (from Lesson 13; example, for teacher reference)
  • Informative/Explanatory Checklist (for teacher reference; see Assessment Overview and Resources)
  • Hummingbird Writing Model (from Lesson 11; one to display)
  • Adjectives anchor chart (new; teacher-created)
  • Adjectives anchor chart (example, for teacher reference; see supporting Materials)
  • Sentence frames (one per pair)
  • Sentence frames (examples, for teacher reference)
  • Word bank of adjectives (one per pair)
  • Revising example sentence (one to display)
  • Revising example sentence (example, for teacher reference)
  • Pinky Partners Protocol anchor chart (begun in Module 1)

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. Engaging the Learner: Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 

  • Gather students whole group. Instruct them to sit next to their writing partner.
  • Tell students that their hard work as writers is paying off: They are one step closer to finishing their My Pollinator Writing booklet. Today, they will work on one more part of their booklets before revising their writing to add adjectives.
  • Direct students' attention to posted learning targets and read the first one aloud:
    • "I can write a conclusion about how my pollinator pollinates plants."
  • Distribute students' Plants and Pollinators research notebook, Part II and invite students to turn to page 5.
  • Turn and Talk:

"According to your research, what is pollination?" (Answers may vary but include: Pollination is when pollen moves from one flower to another.)

  • Tell students that they will use their research about pollination to write their conclusions.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:
    • "I can revise my writing to add adjectives."
  • Tell students that after they finish writing, they are going to review it and find ways to add adjectives to describe the way their pollinator looks and moves.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with Vocabulary: (Noticing Parts of Speech: Suffixes) Ask:

"What do you notice about the endings of these adjectives?" (Many end in -y. This can help us know they are adjectives describing something.) (MMR)

  • For students who may need additional support with motivation: Emphasize the relevance of the revision process by reminding students that revising our work supports our learning and improves our writing. (MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Unit 2 Assessment, Session 3: Writing the Conclusion in My Pollinator Writing Booklet (20 minutes) 

  • Distribute My Pollinator Writing booklets and invite students to turn to page 6.
  • Invite students to whisper a response into their hand and ask:

"What part of your booklet will you be working on today?" (conclusion)

  • Direct students' attention to Criteria for Writing Booklet anchor chart and remind students:
    • "Conclusion statement that tells why pollination is important and repeats focus statement in a different way."
  • Invite students to whisper their response in their hand:

"What part of the My Pollinator Writing booklet repeats in the conclusion?" (focus statement)

  • Display the Shared Writing: Bees and read aloud the focus statement and conclusion.
  • Turn and Talk:

"According to this conclusion, why is pollination important?" (Pollination helps make new seeds that grow into plants.)
"What do you notice about the conclusion and focus statement?" (Part of the conclusion repeats the focus statement in a different way.)
"How are they different?" (The conclusion describes hummingbirds as important.)

  • Follow the same routine from Work Time B of Lesson 11 to guide students through orally rehearsing and writing their conclusion statement on page 6 of their My Pollinator Writing booklet. Refer to the My Pollinator Writing booklet (example, for teacher reference) as necessary. Consider using the Informative/Explanatory Checklist to track students' progress toward W.2.2 and L.2.2.
  • Refocus whole group and tell students they are now going to practice adding adjectives to example sentences before revising their own writing.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with engagement: (Working on Same Learning Target) In Work Times A and B, invite students to discuss how they previously worked toward each learning target. (MME)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Rephrasing Directions and Monitoring Assessment) Rephrase directions. Monitor to see that students correctly complete the assessment. (MMR)
  • For ELLs: (Partner Share Out) In Work Times A and B, invite students to share what their partners said to promote attentive listening, retelling, paraphrasing, and peer language modeling.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with auditory processing: (Written Reinforcement) As students share out during the Turn and Talk, jot down in a T-chart, display, point to, and say aloud the differences between the conclusion and focus statement to provide written language reinforcement. (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with planning: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Changing Focus Statement to Conclusion) Consider modeling and thinking aloud the process of changing the focus statement to make a conclusion. (MMAE)

B. Mini Lesson: Adding Adjectives to Sentences (10 minutes) 

  • Display the Hummingbird Writing Model. Remind students that adjectives are words that describe nouns. Tell students adjectives were used in the Hummingbird Writing Model to describe the parts of the hummingbird that help it pollinate plants so well.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What adjective describes the hummingbird's beak?" (long)

  • Remind students that adjectives have an important job of describing the pollinator so that the writer can teach the reader everything he or she knows about how the pollinator pollinates so well.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What would happen if writers didn't use adjectives?" (Answers will vary, but may include: The reader wouldn't know what pollinators looked like, or the reader wouldn't be able to picture the pollinator in his or her head.)

  • Direct students' attention to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • Tell students that both hummingbirds and bees are such great pollinators because they have specific parts that help them pollinate plants so well. They are going to use their research about bees to add adjectives to make descriptive sentences. Refer to the Adjectives anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Display the first sentence frames and read the first one aloud:
    • "Pollen sticks to the _____ bee."
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What adjective could be added to this sentence to describe the bee?" (hairy, fuzzy)

  • Tell students that they are going to work with their writing partner to add adjectives to more sentences about bees.
  • Distribute sentence frames 2 and 3 with a word bank of adjectives for students to use to complete the sentences.
  • After 4-5 minutes, refocus whole group. Select volunteers to share out responses to complete the sentence frames. Refer to the sentence frames (examples, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Noticing Parts of Speech: Syntax) Ask:

"What do you notice about where we put the adjective?" (Most adjectives should be inserted before the noun.) Students might be able to share whether this is the same or different from their home language. (MMR)

  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Scaffold students'understanding of how adjectives add to a sentence by visually displaying an example with familiar content that highlights how adjectives improve a sentence. (Example: "The dog ran after a bunny across the grass into the field" and "The little dog ran after a fluffy bunny across the green grass into the muddy field". (MMR)

C. Unit 2 Assessment, Session 4: Revising to Add Adjectives in My Pollinator Writing Booklet (20 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the Criteria for My Writing Booklet anchor chart and focus them on the seventh row:
    • "Adjectives that teach the reader more about the topic."
  • Direct students' attention to the Adjectives anchor chart.
  • Turn and Talk:

"What pollinators are on this chart?" (hummingbirds and bees)

  • Invite students to chorally read the adjectives listed with hummingbirds:
    • long, narrow, pointedbeak, round, featheryhead
  • Turn and Talk:

"How would you describe hummingbirds?" (Responses will vary, but may include: birds with a long, pointed beak)

  • Turn and Talk:

"How would you describe bees?" (Responses will vary, but may include: round, black and yellow insects with a sticky body)

  • Tell students that before they start thinking of using adjectives to revise their own writing, you want them to help you revise an example. Display the Revising example sentence and read it aloud:
    • "The pollen sticks to the body of the bee."
  • Tell students that this sentence needs revising by adding an adjective.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What adjective describes the body of the bee?" (Responses will vary, but may include: hairy, fuzzy, furry)

  • Tell students that more than one adjective could fit, so the best way to test them is to try each one and see which one sounds best.
  • Using the Revising example sentence, model how to insert an adjective. Refer to the Revising example sentence (example, for teacher reference) as necessary:
    • Think aloud about inserting a caret between "the" and "body," since this is where the adjective would go.
    • Think aloud about which adjective would work best. Use at least one non-example to show students when something doesn't sound right.
    • Once you settle on an adjective, model where to put the adjective in relation to the caret.
  • Tell students that they will now work with their writing partner to revise their booklets to add adjectives:
    • Tell students to take their booklets and move to an area of the room to work quietly with their partner.
    • Once settled, invite partners to label themselves A or B and explain the following steps:

1. Partner A will read his or her writing aloud to partner B.

2. Partner B will think of one or two places where partner A could add an adjective to make his or her writing more descriptive.

3. Partner A will then consider partner B's feedback and add an adjective or two to his or her writing.

4. Partners will then switch roles and repeat this process.

    • Remind students that the feedback they give should always be kind, specific, and helpful. Review what this means as needed (kind tells you what you did a good job on; specific tells you what to work on; helpful tells you what you could do better).
    • Invite students to begin working.
    • After about 8 minutes, refocus students and remind students that partners should to switch roles if they haven't already.
    • After about 15 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • For students who may need additional support with expressive skills: Invite students to share what kind, specific, and helpful feedback looks and sounds like. (MMAE)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Pinky Partners Protocol: Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes) 

  • Invite students to bring their My Pollinator Writing booklets and gather in the whole group area.
  • Tell students to find one thing they revised in their writing and point to it in their booklet.
  • Tell students they are now going to use the Pinky Partners protocol to share one way their writing partner helped them with their writing today. Remind students that they used this protocol in the previous lesson and review as necessary using the Pinky Partners Protocol anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Guide students through the protocol using the following prompt:

"What is one way your writing partner helped you today?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Tell students that tomorrow, they will edit their booklets and celebrate their writing
  • For ELLs: (Sentence Frames: Lighter Support) Invite students to create sentence frames to support speaking. Invite students who need heavier support to use the frames.

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