Setting Purpose: From Engagement Text to Decodables | EL Education Curriculum

You are here

Home › Our Curriculum › ELA Grade 2 › ELA G2:S3 › ELA G2:S3:C15 ›

ELA G2:S3:C15:L72

Setting Purpose: From Engagement Text to Decodables

In this Lesson

You are here:

Download Materials

Daily Learning Targets

  • Opening A: I can retell the events from the current edition of Sunnyside Gazette: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"
  • Opening B (optional): Using evidence from the text, I can answer questions about the current edition of the Sunnyside Gazette: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"
  • Work Time A: I can read high-frequency words: "clothes," "strange," "circle," "we've," "don't," "what's," "laughed," "through," "ago." (RF.2.3f)
    • I can read second-grade words that "don't play fair" in isolation.
  • Work Time B: I can read the decodable text: "Grandma's Magic Attic." (RF.2.3)
    • I can use knowledge of vowel sounds to help me decode words with different spelling patterns.
    • I can read second-grade words that "don't play fair" in text.

Ongoing Assessment

  • Observe students during Work Time A.
    • Determine whether they can read high-frequency words.
    • Also determine why the words are regularly or irregularly spelled.
  • Observe students during Work Time B.
    • Determine whether they can independently find a given word.
    • Also determine whether they can decode words containing "-k," "-ck," and "-ic," two-syllable words, words containing vowel teams (one- or two-syllable), and irregularly spelled high-frequency words.
  • Exit ticket (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Agenda

Agenda

1. Opening (3-5 minutes)

A. Engagement Text Read-aloud: Sunnyside Gazette Edition 15: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"

B. Comprehension Conversation (optional)

2. Work Time (10 minutes)

A. Snap or Trap: "clothes," "strange," "circle," "we've," "don't," "what's," "laughed," "through," "ago"

B. Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read: "Grandma's Magic Attic"

3. Closing and Assessment (2 minutes)

A. Reflecting on Learning

4. Differentiated Small Group Instruction and Rotations (40-45 minutes)

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Snap or Trap T-chart
    • Snap or Trap Word Cards (write the following words on index cards: "clothes," "strange," "circle," "we've," "don't," "what's," "laughed," "through," "ago")
    • Interactive Word Wall
    • Comprehension Conversation questions (if different from suggested questions)
  • Pre-determine partnerships for retelling during Opening A and Work Time B.
  • Gather materials for differentiated small group instruction (see Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher).

Vocabulary

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

  • comprehension, grapple, responsibility, retelling (L)
  • donate, rummage (T)

Materials

  • Enlarged Engagement Text: Sunnyside Gazette Edition 15: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"
  • Snap or Trap Word Cards (see Teaching Notes, "In Advance" above)
  • Snap or Trap T-chart (on white board or chart paper; Snap on one side and Trap on the other; from Lesson 62)
  • Enlarged Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic" (one to display)
  • Interactive Word Wall (one to display)
  • Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic" (one per student)
  • Highlighter (one per student and one for teacher)
  • Highlighting tape (for the teacher to use to highlight the Decodable Reader; optional)
  • Tape, magnet, or other material to fasten Snap or Trap Word Cards to the Snap or Trap T-chart

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engagement Text Read-aloud: Sunnyside Gazette Edition 15: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Gather round together, together, together. It's time to hear a story, a story, a story. It's time to hear a story and say what you've learned."

  • Display Enlarged Engagement Text: Sunnyside Gazette Edition 15: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"
  • Begin a read-aloud of the Enlarged Engagement Text: Sunnyside Gazette Edition 15: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!":

1. Teacher says: "Listen carefully as I read today's edition of the Sunnyside Gazette: 'Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!' After I am finished reading, you will retell the story to a partner and answer some questions about it."

2. Teacher reads text without interruption, pointing out the accompanying illustrations.

3. Students turn to an elbow partner and each partner retells the events in the Sunnyside Gazette article: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!"
  • For students who need additional support, including ELLs: Consider providing picture cards of nouns in "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!" to support comprehension.

B. Comprehension Conversation (optional)

  • Teacher asks the following suggested comprehension questions:
    • Recall:

"What event is the high school having?" (rummage sale)

"What items are needed?" (clothing, books, and household items)

"When is the sale?" (Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13)

    • Vocabulary and Language:

"The high school is holding a 'rummage sale.'"

"What is a 'rummage sale'?" (like a garage sale; a sale of used items)

"What does the word 'donation' mean?" (items given for free)

    • Digging Deeper: Extension Questions:

"How does an event like the rummage sale benefit the community?" (Answers will vary; possible answers: helps the less fortunate, prevents waste, etc.)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Snap or Trap: "clothes," "strange," "circle," "we've," "don't," "what's," "laughed," "through," "ago"

  • Begin the Snap or Trap instructional practice:

1. Teacher says: "We know some words can be hard to read and spell because they don't look and sound like they should. We call those words 'words that don't play fair.' Today we're going to look at words like this and figure out what makes them hard to read and spell."

2. Teacher displays Snap or Trap Word Cards ("clothes," "strange," "circle," "we've," "don't," "what's," "laughed," "through," "ago") and a Snap or Trap T-chart.

3. Teacher says: "All of these words are high-frequency words, which means we see them a lot when we read and use them a lot when we spell. Some of them are regularly spelled; they 'play fair.' Some of them are irregularly spelled, so they don't 'play fair.' We will figure out which ones should go in the Snap column and which ones go in the Trap column."

4. Teacher reads all words aloud.

5. Teacher reads "laughed."

6. Teacher says: "I notice we hear the /f/ sound in the word 'laughed,' but we don't see the letter 'f,' which usually makes that sound. This word isn't spelled like we would expect, so it goes in the Trap column."

7. Teacher puts "laughed" card in the Trap column.

8. Teacher asks:

"Can anyone see any other trap words? This is a difficult job because we will need to use all that we know about letters and sounds to figure out if the word is 'trap' or 'snap.' You might be unsure about the answer. That's ok! We will help each other as a class think about the words and back up our ideas with evidence."

9. Student volunteer selects a trap word. ("through")

10. Teacher asks:

"Why do you think it's a trap word?" (Answers will vary.)

11. Teacher says: "Right! _____ is a trap word because it doesn't sound like it is spelled. It belongs in the Trap column."

12. Teacher adds selected trap word to T-chart.

13. Students and teacher completes steps 8-12 until all words are identified as snap or trap.

14. Students and teacher chorally read list of snap and trap words together.
  • Encourage students to grapple with their knowledge of letter sounds to decide if the high-frequency word is a snap or trap word.
  • Encourage students to read each high-frequency word first, and then analyze the word after reading it.
  • Encourage students to share their thinking when identifying words as snap or trap. This analysis supports future learning in morphology.

B. Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read: "Grandma's Magic Attic"

  • (Suggested transition song, sung to the tune of "The More We Get Together"):

"Now you will read a story, a story, a story. Now you will read a story with words that you know."

  • Begin Decodable Reader: Partner Search and Read instructional practice:

1. Teacher displays the Enlarged Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic."

2. Teacher says: "First we read an article from the Sunnyside Gazette: 'Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!' Now we will read a story about characters from Sunnyside: 'Grandma's Magic Attic.' This story is filled with words that YOU can read! There are decodable words, and there are some words that don't play fair, like 'strange' and 'through.'"

3. Teacher draws students' attention to words on the Interactive Word Wall.

4. Teacher distributes the Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic" and highlighters to each student.

5. Teacher says: "Before you read the book with your partner, we are going to be detectives. We are going to look for some of the high-frequency words. Remember, some of these words 'don't play fair,' which means they are not easily decodable and so we identified them as trap words."

6. Teacher models with Enlarged Decodable Reader and thinks aloud as she notices one of the high-frequency words. Teacher highlights it with a highlighter or highlighter tape. Model again as needed.

7. Partners search for high-frequency words in the Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic" together and highlight in their own book.

8. Teacher circulates to help partners find words as needed, focusing especially on those words that "don't play fair."

9. Teacher says: "Now you are ready to read the Decodable Reader with your partner. Some of the words in the story will be familiar because you have learned them in previous lessons. And some of the words you will see for the first time, but don't worry: Each of the words that you will see for the first time includes only spelling patterns that you have learned. You'll see lots of words here with '-k,' '-ck,' and '-ic' ending for the /k/ sound."

10. Students read "Grandma's Magic Attic" with a partner. Partners may take turns (by page or whole text), read in unison, or both.
  • If readers in the Pre-Alphabetic or Partial Alphabetic phase need additional support to find the high-frequency words, consider allowing a reader in the Full or Consolidated Alphabetic phase to help them. Or consider asking them to find the beginning letter of the word instead of the whole word.
  • If readers need extra practice with words that "don't play fair," direct them to the Interactive Word Wall. Or have them read the rest of the sentence and think about which high-frequency word would make sense in the blank.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning

  • Emphasize that in any organization made up of a group of people working toward a common goal, everyone has their own responsibilities, but they also collaborate (work together) so that everyone can "grow and flourish" or "be the best they can be." Consider using a metaphor, such as a sports team, city government, or other group, that may be familiar to students. Invite students to share how the classroom community is such an organization. It is made up of a group of people (students and teachers) working toward a common goal (everyone becoming proficient readers and writers).
  • To support students' reflection of their own role in collaboration, consider inviting them to reflect on one or more of the following questions:

"What can I do today that will help to create a classroom community where all of us can 'grow and flourish' as readers and writers/become proficient readers and writers?" Encourage specificity.

"How can I ask for help so I can 'grow and flourish' as a reader/writer or 'become proficient' as a reader/writer?" (Example: "I can ask someone to look over my work and give me feedback.")

  • Depending on students' comfort level, consider inviting them to share their own personal goals (based on feedback from mid- or end-of-module assessments or self-identified goals based on daily work).
  • For students who need additional support organizing their ideas: Provide sentence frames. Examples:
    • "When I see someone _____, I'll make sure to _____."
    • "If someone asks me to _____, I'll _____."
    • "If I have a question about or need help with _____, I'll _____."

Differentiated Small Groups: Work with Teacher

Suggested Plan: Teacher works with students in the Partial Alphabetic and Full Alphabetic groups. If possible, teacher should also meet with the Consolidated Alphabetic group at least once per week.

Note: Groups not working with the teacher at a given time should be engaged in purposeful independent rotation work. Refer to the Independent and Small Group Work Guidance document for more details (see K-2 Skills Resource Manual).

All Groups

Either today or another day this week after the Decodable Student Reader has been introduced, follow the Decodable Student Reader routine with each group. Differentiate the routine as needed based on students' microphase. See Lesson 7 or Independent and Small Group Work document for full routine. See Supporting Materials for Decodable Student Reader Planning and Recording Template.

Partial Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students read the Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic."
    • Students highlight each word that contains "-k," "-ck," and "-ic."

OR:

    • Students highlight words with spelling patterns they are working on (CVC, CCVC, etc.).
    • Look over the exit tickets with student(s). Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.
  • Use the Assessment Conversion chart to determine appropriate Grade 1 lessons and Activity Bank ideas to use in daily small group instruction.

Full Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students read the Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic."
    • Students highlight each word that contains "-k," "-ck," and "-ic."

OR:

    • Students work with teacher to write a new page in the Decodable Reader: "Grandma's Magic Attic" using words that contain "-k," "-ck," and "-ic."

OR:

    • Students work with teacher or a partner to provide a written response to the prompt:

What things would you expect to find in a magic attic?

    • Look over the exit tickets with student(s). Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.

Consolidated Alphabetic:

  • Students complete exit ticket:
    • Students read the Engagement Text: "Clean Out Your Attic for a Good Cause!" Students provide a written response to the prompt:

Imagine you find a magic attic. What kinds of magic things do you find? What kinds of magic things happen there?

    • Students should try to use words that contain "-k," "-ck," and "-ic."
    • Students should use a Writing Checklist (example found in supporting materials) to self-check or partner-check writing conventions.
    • Look over the exit tickets with student(s). Analyze words that were more challenging and discuss why.
  • Additional Supporting Materials:
    • Writing Checklist (one per student)

Copyright © 2013-2024 by EL Education, New York, NY.

Get updates about our new K-5 curriculum as new materials and tools debut.

Sign Up

Help us improve our curriculum.

Tell us what’s going well, share your concerns and feedback.

Terms of use. To learn more about EL Education, visit eleducation.org

Leave feedback