Close Read: Expert Group Selections from My Librarian Is a Camel | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G3:M1:U2:L5

Close Read: Expert Group Selections from My Librarian Is a Camel

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.3.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
  • RI.3.2: Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
  • RI.3.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
  • RI.3.7: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
  • RI.3.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
  • W.3.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
  • W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
  • SL.3.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
  • SL.3.1b: 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).
  • L.3.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
  • L.3.4a: Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
  • L.3.4b: Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat).
  • L.3.4d: Use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can refer explicitly to the text when answering questions about the text. (RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.4, RI.3.7, W.3.2, W.3.8, L.3.4)
  • I can find the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. (RI.3.4, L.3.4)
  • I can determine the main idea of a text and explain how key details support the main idea. (RI.3.1, RI.3.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel (RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.4, RI.3.7, W.3.2, W.3.8, L.3.4)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Research Reading Share (15 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Expert Group Work: Close Read: My Librarian Is a Camel (25 minutes)

B. Expert Group Work: Determining the Main Idea (10 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Overcoming Learning Challenges (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

B. For ELLs: Complete Language Dive Practice II in your Unit 2 homework.

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • In this lesson, students reread an excerpt from My Librarian Is a Camel about their expert group's country to learn more about how some people in that country access books. They follow an Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel to closely reread this excerpt and complete the Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel. This note-catcher follows the same format as the Close Read: My Librarian Is a Camel, Pages 18-19 note-catcher used during the close read in Lesson 2 (RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.4, RI.3.7, W.3.8, SL.3.1b, L.3.4).
  • The close reading in this lesson is mostly student-led, so students work with their expert groups with teacher support when necessary. Because the Expert Group Guide follows the same structure for each group, consider supporting students in pacing as they work through the guides.
  • In Opening A, students participate in the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face protocol. Consider how familiar students are with this protocol and reallocate class time spent introducing it as necessary.
  • In this lesson, the habit of character focus is working to become an ethical person. The characteristic students are reminded of specifically is integrity, in relation to completing their research reading homework.
  • Students practice their fluency by reading excerpts from My Librarian Is a Camel with their expert group in Work Time A.
  • This lesson contains an optional Language Dive for ELLs. Before the lesson, review the Language Dive materials and consider whether all students would benefit from them. Adjust the timing of the lesson as needed.
  • The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to overcoming challenges in access to education, books, and reading near and far. By participating in this volume of reading over a span of time, students will develop a wide base of knowledge about the world and the words that help describe and make sense of it.

How it builds on previous work:

  • In the previous lesson, students read their expert group's excerpt for the gist and identified unfamiliar vocabulary to prepare them to read the excerpt more closely in this lesson.
  • The Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel and the Close Read note-catcher follow the same overall structure and format as the Close Reading Guide and note-catcher used when students closely read about Kenya in Lesson 2.
  • Throughout Unit 1, students were introduced to various total participation techniques (e.g., cold calling, equity sticks, Turn and Talk, Think-Pair-Share, etc.). When following the directive "Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group," use one of these techniques or another familiar technique to encourage all students to participate.
  • Continue to use Goal 1 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas where students may need additional support:

  • Some students may need additional support completing their Close Read note-catcher. Consider inviting those students to write key words or draw pictures to complete the note-catcher. Also consider drawing lines on these students' note-catchers to help them organize their notes.
  • Because Finland is recommended for English language learners and those who require additional support, consider facilitating this group as done in a traditional teacher-led close read, using the Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel.

Assessment guidance:

  • Throughout the close read, check in with students as they share their responses with their expert group. Clarify misunderstandings and use them as teaching points for the whole group.
  • Check student learning by reading their completed Close Read note-catchers, as incorrect information on these will affect the factual accuracy of the informational paragraphs they will write in the second half of the unit.
  • Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Reading Fluency Checklist when students reread their expert group's excerpt in Work Time A.
  • Consider using the Speaking and Listening Informal Assessment: Collaborative Discussion Checklist during the research reading share in Opening A or during students' small group discussions in Work Time A.
  • Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Phonics and Word Recognition Checklist (Grade 3) to gather baseline phonics and word recognition data from students' research reading share in Opening A.

Down the road:

  • Students will use the Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel when learning to write focus statements and informational paragraphs in the second half of the unit. Because of this, the focus statement on the note-catcher should be left blank for now.
  • Students will repeat this cycle of reading for gist and then closely reading a new excerpt from this text for the mid-unit assessment in the next lesson.

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Research reading share using the Independent Reading: Sample Plans (see the Tools page) or your own independent reading routine.
    • Sentence strip chunks for use during Work Time B (see supporting materials).
  • Read the Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel in conjunction with the text excerpts to familiarize yourself with what will be required of students.
  • Review the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face protocol. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Post: Learning targets, Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart, and Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart.

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time A: For students who will benefit from hearing the text read aloud multiple times, consider using a text-to-speech tool like Natural Reader, SpeakIt! for Google Chrome, or the Safari reader. Note that to use a web-based text-to-speech tool like SpeakIt! or Safari reader, you will need to create an online doc, such as a Google Doc, containing the text.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 3.I.A.1, 3.I.B.6, 3.I.B.8, and 3.I.C.10

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to read closely and determine the main idea of complex text. This will expose them to vocabulary and syntax critical to their English language development. The lesson also provides opportunities for them to work in small groups, which will afford them more time to verbally exchange ideas in an academic context.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to self-facilitate in their expert groups with less direct teacher support. Ensure that students are placed in groups with classmates of higher proficiency who can model the close-reading procedure successfully. If necessary, spend extra time explaining and modeling the process of the expert group work to minimize confusion while the lesson is in progress.
  • In Work Time B, ELLs are invited to participate in a Language Dive conversation (optional). This conversation guides them through expanding the meaning of a sentence found in My Librarian Is a Camel. It also provides students with further practice using conditional phrases. Students may draw on this sentence when writing about book access challenges later in the unit.. Review the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the questions and goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting materials). Select from the questions and goals provided to best meet your students' needs.

Levels of Support

For lighter support:

  • During the Language Dive (optional), challenge students to generate questions about the sentence before asking the prepared questions. Example: "What questions can we ask about this sentence? Let's see if we can answer them together." (Who is the sentence about? What are nomadic villages?)

For heavier support:

  • Group ELLs together in the Finland group and work with them closely during Work Time B. After guiding them through finding the main idea and identifying key details, facilitate a Language Dive conversation (optional).
  • During Work Time A, distribute a partially filled-in copy of the Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel. This will provide students with models for the kind of information they should enter and reduce the volume of writing required. Refer to the Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel (answers, for teacher reference) to determine which sections of the note-catcher to provide for students.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation: Some students may need support with social skills or may have different norms for group interaction at home. This will necessitate explicit examples of the group norms in addition to the chart. When reviewing the norms, consider role-playing them so that students can see examples of how to enact them during group interactions.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression: For students who may need additional support with reading: Differentiate the level of complexity during the close read by highlighting key areas of the text for them to focus on so that they do not get overwhelmed. For students who may need additional support with writing, create premade sticky notes with sample main ideas (both correct and incorrect) that they can match to the text. This gives students access to the task even if they are not yet ready to construct a main idea on their own.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement: Similar to Lesson 2, the close read in this lesson uses a note-catcher as a tool to facilitate comprehension. Consider offering a choice of graphic organizer with multiple formats, such as lines for writing to help students self-monitor their learning needs. 

Vocabulary

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

  • explicitly, key details, main idea, refer (L)
  • assistant, bordered, communities, include, providing, skills, transportation, volunteer (T)

Materials

  • Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 2)
  • Independent Reading: Sample Plans (see the Tools page; for teacher reference)
  • Expert Group Norms (from Lesson 4; one per expert group)
  • Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel (one per student)
  • Facsimiles of expert group pages from My Librarian Is a Camel (from Lesson 4; one per student)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (from Unit 1, Lesson 3)
  • Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel (one per student)
  • Sticky notes (several per student)
  • Vocabulary log (from Unit 1, Lesson 5; one per student)
  • Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel (answers, for teacher reference)
  • Independent reading journal (from Unit 1, Lesson 6; one per student)
  • Determining the Main Idea handout (from Lesson 2; one per student and one to display)
  • Language Dive Guide II: My Librarian Is a Camel (optional; for ELLs; for teacher reference; see supporting materials)
    • Language Dive Sentence strip chunks II: My Librarian Is a Camel (optional; for ELLs; one to display)
    • Language Dive Note-catcher II: My Librarian Is a Camel (optional; for ELLs; one per student and one to display)
  • Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 3; added to during Closing and Assessment A)
  • Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the 3-5 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. 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. Research Reading Share (15 minutes)

  • Focus students on the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and the following bullet point:
    • "I behave with integrity. This means I am honest and do the right thing, even when it's difficult, because it is the right thing to do."
  • Remind them that this includes doing homework even when there may be other things they want to do after school. Remind them that the purpose of research reading is to build background knowledge and vocabulary on a topic so that they can gradually read more and more complex texts on that topic.
  • Refer to the Independent Reading: Sample Plans in (see the Tools page) to guide students through a research reading share or use your own routine.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with expressive language: Provide sentence frames to support student participation. Examples:
    • "I have been reading _____."
    • "I learned about _____ from ______."
    • "One new word I learned is ______. It means _______." (MMAE)
  • Activate prior knowledge by encouraging students to reference the Expert Group Finding the Gist and Unfamiliar Vocabulary note-catcher from Lesson 4. (MMR)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

  • Invite students to sit with their expert groups and to spend a few minutes reading through the Expert Group Norms they generated in Lesson 4.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud:
    • "I can refer explicitly to the text when answering questions about the text."
    • "I can find the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary."
    • "I can determine the main idea of a text and explain how key details support the main idea."
  • Invite students to turn and talk with their expert groups:

"What does it mean to explicitly refer to the text when answering questions about the text?" (to clearly point back to the text; to find evidence in the text that proves the answer to a question about the text)

  • Cold call students to share with the group.
  • Circle the phrase main idea in the third target.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What does it mean to determine the main idea of a text?" (to tell what the text is about overall--the important thing the author wants the reader to know)

  • Tell students that in this lesson, they will closely reread their expert group's pages in My Librarian Is a Camel, thinking about the main idea of the text and how it is supported by the text's details. Remind students that they did this as a class in Lesson 2 when learning about how some people access books in Kenya.
  • Distribute the Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel and invite students to take out their facsimiles of expert group pages from My Librarian Is a Camel.
  • Invite students to refer to the text and turn and talk with their expert groups:

"What is the source? Write the title of the book and the page numbers at the top of your Close Read note-catcher." (My Librarian Is a Camel; pages 14-15 or 28-29 or 30-31)

"What country do these pages focus on? What text features make you think so?" (Finland or Thailand or Zimbabwe; the heading says so)

"Write the name of the country in the box at the top of your note-catcher." (Finland or Thailand or Zimbabwe)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with socialization or expressive language: If dialogue illustrating group norms was added to Expert Group Norm Charts during Lesson 4, allow students to practice some of the dialogue they generated. (Example: "Let's practice using words that help us take turns. Say something to your partner that shows you want to take turns.") (MMR)
  • For students who may need additional support with fine motor skills: Offer choice with the Close Read note-catcher by providing a template that includes lines. (MMR, MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Expert Group Work: Close Read: My Librarian Is a Camel (25 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and quickly review it.
  • Distribute the Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel and sticky notes. Tell students that because they are working in expert groups, you will guide them through the close read by reading the directions and questions on the guide to them, and they will discuss their thinking with their group mates. Point out the discussion and pencil symbols on the guide and tell students that these symbols will remind them what should be discussed as a group and what should be recorded on their own, in either their vocabulary logs or on their note-catchers.
  • Invite students to read the questions on the Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel.
  • After 5 minutes, refocus whole group. Read the first direction on the guide and the corresponding questions. Remind students to follow their expert group's norms, to work as a group to read their group's excerpt aloud, for example with each student reading a different paragraph or chorally reading the excerpt, to confer with their group as necessary before recording on their note-catchers, and to use evidence from the text to answer questions when they can. Repeat this process through the end of the expert group guide.
  • Circulate to support students in rereading their excerpt and answering the questions. Refer to the Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Consider using this time to check independent reading journals for completion.
  • Refocus students on the first two learning targets. Read each one aloud, pausing after each to use a checking for understanding protocol for students to reflect on their comfort level with or show how close they are to meeting each target. Take note of students who may need additional support with each of the learning targets moving forward.
  • For students who may need additional support: Pre-highlight key sections in their excerpts. This will help the students focus on smaller sections rather than scanning the whole excerpt. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: Pair students with a partner who has more advanced or native language proficiency. The partner with greater English language proficiency can serve as a model in the pair, initiating discussions and providing implicit sentence frames.
  • Provide differentiated mentors by purposefully pre-selecting student partnerships. Consider meeting with the mentors in advance to encourage them to share their thought processes with their partner. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with reading: Before instructing groups to begin working independently, display a model of Expert Group Guide: My Librarian Is a Camel on a document camera or as an enlarged copy. Invite one group to model asking the first question for the whole class so that all students are clear about the process. As the group models beginning to ask the questions, direct the class's attention to the relevant items on the enlarged copy of the guide. (MMR)

B. Expert Group Work: Determining the Main Idea (10 minutes)

  • Remind students that they have been reading to determine the main idea of informational texts.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is the main idea of a text?" (what a text is about overall--the important thing the author wants the reader to know)

"How do we determine the main idea of a text?" (reread the text and think about the most important thing the author wants the reader to know; identify key details in the text that support or explain the main idea; confirm the original thinking about the main idea or more precisely focus our thinking as we read on in the text)

  • Invite students to take out their Determining the Main Idea handout. Tell students to continue working in their expert groups to reread and determine the main idea and identify key details that support the main idea of their excerpt from My Librarian Is a Camel. Remind students to refer to the Determining the Main Idea handout as they work.
  • Circulate to support students as they work. Invite students to write the main idea of this section at the bottom of their Close Read Note-catcher: Expert Group My Librarian Is a Camel.
  • Refocus students whole group. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What strategies did you use today to help you read this text? How did these strategies help you to better understand the text?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Refocus students on the last learning target. Read it aloud and use a checking for understanding protocol for students to reflect on their comfort level with or show how close they are to meeting the target. Take note of students who may need additional support with the learning target moving forward. Repeat, inviting students to self-assess against how well they showed integrity in this lesson.
  • For ELLs: During or after Work Time B, lead students through a Language Dive (see supporting materials). Refer to the Language Dive Guide (for Teacher Reference). Follow the guide for the use of the sentence strip chunks.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: Create sticky notes with different statements representing the main idea, supporting details, and distractors that do not fit either category. Invite students to discuss among the group and choose which note represents the main idea of their text and which supporting details best fit their chosen main idea. (MMAE)
  • If students are confused, consider bringing the group together and having students with a strong main idea share their reasoning as a think-aloud for the rest of the group. (MMR)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Overcoming Learning Challenges (5 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart. Remind them that they used this chart throughout Unit 1 and added to it after learning about how some people in Kenya overcome the challenge of access to books.
  • If necessary, clarify the meanings of the headings of each column and review a challenge on the anchor chart with students.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What challenge are we focusing on in this unit?" (access to books)

  • Invite students to Think-Pair-Share, leaving adequate time for each partner to think, ask the question to their partner, and partner share:

"What challenge did you read some people facing in your expert group's country, and how did they overcome that challenge?" (Finland: People live on rocky islands, so library boats bring books; Thailand: People live in hard-to-reach mountainous areas, so elephants bring books; and Zimbabwe: Roads are too bad for cars and motorized vehicles, so books are delivered in donkey carts.)

  • If productive, cue students to clarify the conversation by saying what they mean:

"So, do you mean _____?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Add new rows to the anchor chart and select volunteers to share out. As students share, capture their responses on the anchor chart. Refer to the Overcoming Learning Challenges anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary. 
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with new vocabulary: Invite a student to rephrase challenges and overcoming challenges. Examples:

"What is a challenge?" (a problem that is hard to solve)

"What does it mean to overcome a challenge?" (to solve the problem) (MMR)

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.

B. For ELLs: Complete Language Dive Practice II in your Unit 2 homework.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with writing: Discuss and respond to your prompts orally, either with a partner, family member, or student from grades 1 or 2, or record a response. (MMAE)

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