Shared Writing: Why People Should Protect Bats and Research Reading: Butterflies | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G2:M4:U2:L5

Shared Writing: Why People Should Protect Bats and Research Reading: Butterflies

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
  • RI.2.2: Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
  • RI.2.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
  • RI.2.8: Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
  • W.2.1: Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can write reasons to support the opinion that people should protect bats. (W.2.1)
  • I can begin to determine the author's opinion in A Place for Butterflies by listening to sections read aloud. (RI.2.1, RI.2.2, RI.2.4, RI.2.8)

Ongoing Assessment

  • After the lesson, use the Reading Informational Text Checklist to review students' Protecting Pollinators research notebook and track progress toward RI.2.1, RI.2.2, RI.2.4, and RI.2.8 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engaging the Learner: "The Butterfly Garden" (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Shared Writing: Writing Reasons and a Conclusion (25 minutes)

B. Partner Reading and Response: A Place for Butterflies (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Vote with Your Feet Protocol: Working to Contribute to a Better World (5 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • In Work Time A, students finish the Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats" that they began in Lesson 4. Recall that this shared writing is used as a model and scaffolding for the more independent writing they will do in Lessons 8-10 for Unit 2 Assessment, Part II: Writing Opinions. Continue to reinforce the importance of forming an opinion based on evidence from texts, as well as supporting one's own opinion using reasons.
  • Work Time A marks the end of the first complete research and writing cycle on a pollinator: bats. In Work Time B, students begin a new research and writing cycle on butterflies. They begin reading and answering text-dependent questions about A Place for Butterflies to build background knowledge about butterflies and the dangers facing them. Introduction to the topic in this lesson prepares students to read more informational text about butterflies on Unit 2 Assessment, Part I: Reading Opinions during Lesson 6.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Work Time A, students use their existing knowledge of paragraph writing (from Modules 1-3) as a bridge to the more expanded shared opinion writing. Grounding the new, multi-paragraph piece in their existing understanding of paragraph structure builds students' confidence in approaching the nuanced genre of opinion writing.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • For students who may need additional support during shared writing, consider seating them with their writing partner near you during Work Time A. This proximity allows for providing support more easily. Consider observing students who need more support as they orally rehearse the detail sentences and conclusion to the shared opinion piece in order to provide more targeted feedback.

Down the road:

  • In Lessons 8-10, students will analyze the shared writing about why people should protect bats as a model of opinion writing. Using student writing (rather than a piece written by an adult) as a model for analysis boosts students' confidence and engagement. As noted in the Lesson 4 Teaching Notes, it is important that the shared writing reach a level of quality to serve as a strong model.
  • In Lesson 6, students take the Unit 2 Assessment, Part I: Reading Opinions, applying the reading skills practiced in Lessons 1-5 to texts on the topic of butterflies.
  • As noted in Lesson 4, the shared opinion writing piece that is added to during Work Time A will be color-coded to align with the Painted Essay(r) protocol used throughout Grade 3.

In Advance

  • Preview Work Time A and Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats" (example, for teacher reference) to familiarize yourself with the outcomes for shared writing (see Lesson 4 supporting materials).
  • Pre-distribute sticky notes, copies of A Place for Butterflies, and Protecting Pollinators research notebooks at student workspaces for Work Time B.
  • Post: Learning targets and all applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

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

  • During the shared writing in Work Time A, consider the use of tablets and streaming technology instead of white boards and dry-erase markers, allowing the display of students' writing ideas for discussion, revision, and inclusion in the shared writing piece.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided by in part by CA ELD Standards 2.I.B.6 and 2.II.A.1

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to read a text with a similar structure as A Place for Bats (from Lessons 2-3). Being familiar with the structure of the book allows them to focus on the content and language.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to answer selected response questions with their partners. Provide more structured time for students to orally process the questions. Also consider providing extra time for students to finish answering the questions. In preparation for the assessment in Lesson 6, consider reviewing strategies for answering selected response questions and thinking through a few additional questions as a class.

Levels of support

For lighter support

  • During Work Time B, provide time for students to put the selected response questions in their own words with a partner before looking at the answer choices. This will focus students on understanding the question before attempting to respond.

For heavier support

  • During Work Time B, students may benefit from having some of the text and the questions read aloud to them.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Continue to support students as they incorporate new learning into existing knowledge. Recall that providing explicit cues or prompts helps students attend to the information that matters most. Continue to activate background knowledge by previewing the questions you will ask.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): This lesson offers several opportunities for students to engage in discussion with partners. For those who may need additional support with expressive language, continue to facilitate communication by providing sentence frames to help them organize their thoughts.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Continue to encourage self-regulatory skills by helping students anticipate and manage frustration by modeling what to do if they need help from their partners. 

Vocabulary

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

Review:

  • irregular plural nouns, adjectives, verbs, introduction, focus statement, detail sentences, reasons, conclusion (L)

Materials

  • "The Butterfly Garden" (begun in Lesson 4)
  • "The Butterfly Garden" (begun in Lesson 4; example, for teacher reference)
  • Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats" (begun in Lesson 4, added to during Work Time A; see Lesson 4 supporting materials)
  • Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats" (begun in Lesson 4; example, for teacher reference)
  • Dangers That Bats Face and Reasons Bats Are Important: Class Notes (completed in Lesson 3; one to display)
  • Markers (permanent; yellow, blue, and black; one of each used by the teacher for shared writing)
  • Unit 2 Guiding Questions anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1)
  • A Place for Butterflies (one per pair and one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • Sticky notes (one per student)
  • Protecting Pollinators research notebook (from Lesson 3; added to during Work Time B; one per student)
    • Questions about A Place for Butterflies (page 5 of the Protecting Pollinators research notebook)
  • Protecting Pollinators research notebook (from Lesson 3; example, for teacher reference)
  • "We Do What We Can" (from Unit 1, Lesson 2; one to display)
  • Working to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart (begun in Lesson 2)
  • Vote with Your Feet Protocol anchor chart (begun in Lesson 2)

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.

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Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engaging the Learner: "The Butterfly Garden" (10 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Display "The Butterfly Garden" and invite students to read it chorally with you.
  • Tell students that in addition to being fun to read aloud and listen to, poems can help us learn more about the English language. Remind them that in the previous lesson, they reviewed and listed examples of regular and irregular plural nouns.
  • Review the meaning of irregular plural noun (plural nouns that are formed by adding anything other than -s or -es) and remind students that using correct pronouns is one way we can help readers better understand the points we are making in a piece of writing.
  • Say:

"Another way we can help readers understand the points in our writing is by being as descriptive as we can be. One way to be more descriptive in our writing is to use a variety of adjectives related to the nouns that they modify."

  • Briefly review adjectives (words used to describe nouns).
  • Call on student readers to read the first three lines of the poem aloud, one line at a time. Invite students to name the adjectives in each line and highlight them on the poem. (pretty, brilliant, red, tiny, beautiful, bright)
  • Refer to the highlighted adjective pretty, and Turn and Talk:

"What are some other vocabulary words we can use in place of the word pretty to describe a garden?" (Responses will vary, but may include: beautiful, handsome, attractive.)

    • Circulate and listen in, choosing two or three examples of synonyms to list in place of pretty on "The Butterfly Garden."
    • Refocus whole group, inviting a student volunteer to choose one of the synonyms for pretty to use as a replacement. Invite the class to read the first sentence of the poem again, using the replacement adjective.
  • Say:

"Another way to be more descriptive in our writing is to use a variety of verbs."

  • Briefly review verbs (words that express actions or states of being).
  • Call on student readers to read the next two lines of the poem, one at a time. Invite students to name the verbs in each line and highlight them on the chart. (flying, slept, sipping, were)
  • Repeat this process with the highlighted verb flying. Turn and Talk:

"What are some other verbs we can use in place of the word flying to describe the way butterflies move in the air?" (Responses will vary, but may include: fluttering, soaring, floating.)

    • Circulate and listen in, choosing two or three examples of synonyms to list in place of flying on "The Butterfly Garden."
    • Refocus whole group, inviting a student volunteer to choose one of the synonyms for flying to use as a replacement. Invite the class to read the sentence of the poem again, using the replacement verb.
  • Emphasize that students will have multiple chances to write in this unit, and that we will work to be as descriptive and specific as we can to make our points as clear and powerful as possible to readers.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with language: (Contextualizing Adjectives and Verbs) When discussing different adjectives and verbs, invite students to think of examples of other contexts in which they might use them. To support them, invite students to act out different verbs to illustrate their meanings. (Examples: "What else might the word pretty describe? What else might fly? Can you act out what that might look like?") (MMR)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Shared Writing: Writing Reasons and a Conclusion (25 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Direct students' attention to the Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats," and remind students of the work they started yesterday.
  • Say:

"We are learning to apply our new learning about bats to support an opinion about bats in writing."

  • Ask:

"What is the opinion we are supporting with our writing?" (People should protect bats.)

  • Read the shared writing aloud, cuing students to recall their knowledge of paragraph writing.
  • Ask:

"What do we call the parts of this work that we have already written?" (introduction; focus statement)

"What is new or different about the focus statement and its purpose in this shared writing? (states the author's opinion; connects it to supporting reasons)

"If we follow the paragraph structure that you know so well, what should come next?" (detail sentences)

  • Confirm that the detail sentences will need to explain the reasons for the opinion we are supporting.
  • Refer to the focus statement, and ask:

"What two reasons are given for why people should protect bats?" (Bats are important to plants; bats are important to other animals.)

  • Holding out one flattened hand for students to see and pretending to write on it with the index finger of the other hand, invite students to Turn and Talk:

"What sentences can you write that help readers understand that bats are important to plants?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Encourage students to refer to the posted Dangers That Bats Face and Reasons Bats Are Important: Class Notes as needed.
    • Circulate to support students and to listen in for responses that align with the detail sentences in Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats" (example, for teacher reference). Note the use of transition words to include in the shared writing piece.
  • Refocus whole group, highlighting student responses to write detail sentences about the first reason people should protect bats: Bats are important to plants. Using a yellow marker, but without explaining the color-coding system, write the co-created detail sentences on the chart paper for shared writing.
  • Focus students on the focus statement and point out the second reason people should work to protect bats:
    • "They are important to other animals."
  • Follow the same process to co-create the detail sentences about the second reason to support the opinion.
    • Turn and Talk:

"What sentences can you write that help readers understand that bats are important to other animals?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Refer students to the class notes as needed.
    • Circulate to support and listen in for detail sentences that align with those in Shared Opinion Writing: "People Should Protect Bats" (example for teacher reference).
    • Refocus whole group and use a blue marker to write detail sentences about the second reason people should protect bats: They are important to other animals.
  • Say:

"Let's see. We've written an introduction with a focus statement that tells our two supporting reasons. We've written detailed sentences as paragraphs to explain our two reasons."

  • Ask:

"As authors, what's left for us to write?" (conclusion)

"What's the purpose of a conclusion?" (restate the main idea/opinion)

  • Holding up your "paper" and "pencil," follow the same process to co-create the conclusion for the shared opinion piece using a black marker.
  • Step back to admire the completed piece of shared writing and say: "Wow! Look at what we have created together. Since we wrote it together, let's read it together, too."
  • Lead students in chorally reading the shared writing.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and review the first one:

"I can write reasons to support the opinion that people should protect bats."

  • Invite students to signal with a thumbs-up if they agree that they have already met this target for today.
  • Say:

"Congratulations! You've taken your new learning about bats and put it together with your knowledge of paragraph writing to create a multi-paragraph piece supporting an opinion with reasons. This is really starting to look like third-grade writing!"

  • Referring to the completed shared writing, ask:

"What do you notice about the colors I used to complete our shared writing?" (different colors for different parts)

  • Confirm that the colors provide a visual reminder about the structure of an opinion piece with multiple paragraphs. Explain that students will be able to refer to the shared writing as a tool when writing about opinions in future lessons.
  • Direct students' attention to the Unit 2 Guiding Questions anchor chart and review the questions. Remind students that their work today has had them using their knowledge of the dangers that bats face to write about why people should protect pollinators.

Conversation Cue: "What if nobody protected pollinators? What might happen? I'll give you time to think and discuss with a partner." (Responses will vary.)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Summarizing) To ensure comprehension, invite students to summarize each part of the paragraph as it is written. (MMR)
  • For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: During the Turn and Talk, support communication and engagement by organizing students with strategic partners to ensure they have a strong, politely helpful peer model to support their efforts at sharing sentences to support the opinion. (MMAE, MME)

B. Partner Reading and Response: A Place for Butterflies (20 minutes)

  • Invite students to stand in the group meeting area, adjusting to allow enough room for them to safely make a letter "T" with their bodies (arms held straight out to the sides). Once students are in place, direct them to lower their arms.
  • Introduce students to a new movement break: taking a "Butterfly Breath."
  • Tell students they are going to practice breathing in through their noses and out through their mouths.
    • Say:

"Covering your mouth with one hand, breathe in slowly through your nose. Before exhaling, uncover your mouth and plug your nose. Exhale slowly through your mouth."

    • Allow students brief practice to inhale through their noses and exhale from their mouths.
  • Lead students through the "Butterfly Breath" movements:
    • Stand calmly with your arms at your side.
    • Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose, filling your belly with air.
    • As you breathe in, slowly raise your "wings" straight out to your sides.
    • Breathe out slowly through your mouth, lowering your wings back down.
  • Repeat several times, for about a minute, leading students in calming breaths. Share that students can practice butterfly breaths anytime they need to feel calm.
  • Invite students to sit down quietly next to their research partners.
  • Display the cover of A Place for Butterflies, and share that for the rest of this unit, students will explore another pollinator: butterflies.
  • Share that they will follow a routine that is similar to the one they did with bats: first reading to research and take notes about the dangers that butterflies face and reasons butterflies are important, and then writing their own opinion piece related to the topic.
  • Tell students that today they will read and answer questions about the book to become familiar with its content. Explain that they will also use this text to complete part of Unit 2 Assessment, Part I: Reading Opinions during the next lesson.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:
    • "I can begin to determine the author's opinion in A Place for Butterflies by listening to sections read aloud."
  • Introduce A Place for Butterflies by showing the cover again and reading the title and author's name aloud.
  • Display page 1 and orient students to the structure of this text. Say: "This text is structured just like A Place for Bats is. There are words at the top of each page and text boxes on the side with more information."
  • Read aloud pages 1-4.
  • Turn and Talk:

"So far, what is this text mostly about?" (why butterflies are in danger; how people can help butterflies)

  • Tell students they will now work with their reading partners to reread the first eight pages and answer questions about the text in their research notebooks.
    • Transition students to their workspaces with their partners and point out the sticky notes, copies of A Place for Butterflies, and their Protecting Pollinators research notebooks already there.
    • Display and invite students to turn to page 8 in their copy of A Place for Butterflies. Direct students to place a sticky note on this page as a reminder to stop reading when they reach the end of this page.
    • Read pages 1-8 aloud, pausing to clarify vocabulary as needed.
    • Refer students to the table of contents in their research notebook to find Questions about A Place for Butterflies (page 5).
    • Invite students to begin working with their reading partners.
    • Circulate to support students as they work. Refer to Protecting Pollinators research notebook (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
    • As students finish responding to questions, encourage them to go back and explore the text boxes on any pages that interest them, or to explore the rest of the book as time allows.
    • When 5 minutes remain, direct students to leave their research notebooks at their workspaces and to return to the whole group area by singing the chorus from "We Do What We Can" as they transition to this meeting area.
    • Once students are settled, share that they wil+l continue to read this text during another lesson to better understand the author's opinion, and to gather notes about the dangers that butterflies face.
  • For ELLs: Mini Language Dive. "Some caterpillars / depend on plants / that grow on burned land."
    • Deconstruct: Discuss the sentence and each chunk. Language goals for focus structure:
  • "What do some caterpillars need?" (plants to eat)
  • depend on: "What does it mean to depend on something? What do we depend on?" You need it to live; food, water, shelter. (phrasal verb)
    • Reconstruct: Reread the sentence. Ask:

"Now what do you think the sentence means?"

"How does this sentence help us understand a reason the author thinks we should let some wildfires burn?" (Caterpillars need to eat plants that grow only when forests burn.)

    • Practice: "Butterflies depend on _______." (food; a place to live; nectar from flowers)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with visual processing: (Reading Questions Aloud) Some students may benefit from being read the questions aloud. (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with working memory: (Chunking Questions) To support comprehension of the short response questions, encourage students to think about them in chunks. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Rephrasing Selected Response Questions) Encourage students to rephrase each question--and answer it--before they read each answer choice. (MMAE)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Vote with Your Feet Protocol: Working to Contribute to a Better World (5 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the Working to Contribute to a Better World anchor chart and review the skills previously added to the chart. Remind students that these skills can be strengthened to help us grow as learners.
  • Offer students specific, positive feedback on ways you have seen them work to strengthen these skills over the past several lessons.
  • Tell students they will now participate in the Vote with Your Feet protocol. Remind them that they used this protocol in Lessons 2-4 and review as necessary using the Vote with Your Feet Protocol anchor chart.
    • Guide students through the protocol using the following prompt:

"Of the skills listed on the anchor chart, which is your strongest?"

    • As needed, remind students that strongest does not mean perfect, and that they should choose one that, for them, is stronger than the others.
    • Once students have moved to indicate their response, Turn and Talk:

"State your strength as an opinion, and tell one reason to support the opinion." (Responses will vary, depending on chosen skill.)

  • Refocus whole group and preview tomorrow's lesson: applying our reading skills to learn more about butterflies.
  • For ELLs: (Errors) As students interact, jot down samples of effective communication. Also, jot down one or two common language errors (pervasive, stigmatizing, critical). Share each of these with the class, allowing students to take pride in the effective communication and correct the errors.
  • For students who may need additional support with working memory: Provide the question and a minute of think time to students before voting. (MMAE)

There are no new supporting materials for this lesson.

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