ELA G3:M2:U1:L11

Writing a Pourquoi Tale: Final Revisions

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

W.3.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
W.3.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
RF.3.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
RF.3.4a: Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
RF.3.4b: Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
RF.3.4c: Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
L.3.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.3.1g: Form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.
L.3.3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
L.3.3a: Choose words and phrases for effect.

Daily Learning Targets

I can revise my pourquoi tale to correctly use comparative and superlative adjectives and to include words and phrases to take it more precise and interesting. (W.3.3, W.3.5, L.3.1g, L.3.3a)
I can read my pourquoi tale aloud accurately and with expression. (RF.3.4a, RF.3.4b, RF.3.4c)

Ongoing Assessment

Revised pourquoi tale (W.3.3, W.3.5, L.3.1g, L.3.3a)
Reading Fluency Self-Assessment Checklist (RF.3.4a, RF.3.4b, RF.3.4c)

Agenda

Agenda	Teaching Notes
1. Opening A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) 2. Work Time A. Mini Lesson: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives (10 minutes) B. Revising Pourquoi Tale: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Word Choice (10 minutes) C. Reading Aloud: Pourquoi Tale (20 minutes) 3. Closing and Assessment A. Planning: End of Unit 1 Assessment Pourquoi Tale (15 minutes) 4. Homework A. Finish planning your pourquoi tale for the End of Unit 1 Assessment. B. Complete the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives practice in your Homework Resources. C. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt to respond to in the front of your independent reading journal.	Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards: In this lesson, students revise their pourquoi tales with a specific focus on comparative and superlative adjectives and word choice (L.3.1g, L.3.3a). Although student work may or may not feature comparative and superlative adjectives, this is a time to learn and practice the rules associated with the use of these words. Students also continue to practice reading their pourquoi tale aloud in preparation for the Frog Festival in the next lesson. They self-assess their performance against the Reading Fluency Self-Assessment Checklist to identify skills to work on before the Frog Festival. If using the Reading Fluency component of the Additional Language and Literacy block, students will already be familiar with this checklist, and so less time will need to be spent reading the criteria. Please note that students will be formally assessed on RF.3.4 during the festival. The research reading students complete for homework helps to build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to frogs and specifically frog adaptations. 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. Students practice their fluency in this lesson by reading their pourquoi tale aloud in Work Time C. How it builds on previous work: Students have finished their pourquoi tale. This lesson provides them with a chance to revise and edit their work and to practice reading it aloud. Continue to use Goals 1 and 2 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation. Areas where students may need additional support: Students may require additional practice with forming and using comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs. Assessment guidance: Use the appropriate sections of the Narrative Writing Rubric to guide your feedback as you review student work. Consider using the Reading Fluency Checklist (see Informal Checklists) to informally assess students as they read aloud their stories in Work Time C. Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Phonics and Word Recognition Checklist (Grade 3) to informally assess students as they read aloud their stories in Work Time C. Down the road: Students will read their finished pourquoi tales in a Frog Festival in Lessons 12 and 14. They will be formally assessed on RF.3.4 at this time. You may wish to invite other students, teachers, and families to come to the Frog Festival. Plan this accordingly and invite an audience in advance. There is a mini lesson about comparative and superlative adverbs in the next lesson to provide students with exposure to both parts of L.3.1g. Students will write a new pourquoi tale for the End of Unit 1 Assessment in Lesson 13. The planning and scaffolding in the lessons leading up to the assessment will help them understand the steps they need to take to write a pourquoi narrative independently.

Teaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Mini Lesson: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives (10 minutes)

B. Revising Pourquoi Tale: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Word Choice (10 minutes)

C. Reading Aloud: Pourquoi Tale (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Planning: End of Unit 1 Assessment Pourquoi Tale (15 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Finish planning your pourquoi tale for the End of Unit 1 Assessment.

B. Complete the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives practice in your Homework Resources.

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

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

In this lesson, students revise their pourquoi tales with a specific focus on comparative and superlative adjectives and word choice (L.3.1g, L.3.3a). Although student work may or may not feature comparative and superlative adjectives, this is a time to learn and practice the rules associated with the use of these words.
Students also continue to practice reading their pourquoi tale aloud in preparation for the Frog Festival in the next lesson. They self-assess their performance against the Reading Fluency Self-Assessment Checklist to identify skills to work on before the Frog Festival. If using the Reading Fluency component of the Additional Language and Literacy block, students will already be familiar with this checklist, and so less time will need to be spent reading the criteria. Please note that students will be formally assessed on RF.3.4 during the festival.
The research reading students complete for homework helps to build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to frogs and specifically frog adaptations. 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.
Students practice their fluency in this lesson by reading their pourquoi tale aloud in Work Time C.

How it builds on previous work:

Students have finished their pourquoi tale. This lesson provides them with a chance to revise and edit their work and to practice reading it aloud.
Continue to use Goals 1 and 2 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas where students may need additional support:

Students may require additional practice with forming and using comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs.

Assessment guidance:

Use the appropriate sections of the Narrative Writing Rubric to guide your feedback as you review student work.
Consider using the Reading Fluency Checklist (see Informal Checklists) to informally assess students as they read aloud their stories in Work Time C.
Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Phonics and Word Recognition Checklist (Grade 3) to informally assess students as they read aloud their stories in Work Time C.

Down the road:

Students will read their finished pourquoi tales in a Frog Festival in Lessons 12 and 14. They will be formally assessed on RF.3.4 at this time. You may wish to invite other students, teachers, and families to come to the Frog Festival. Plan this accordingly and invite an audience in advance.
There is a mini lesson about comparative and superlative adverbs in the next lesson to provide students with exposure to both parts of L.3.1g.
Students will write a new pourquoi tale for the End of Unit 1 Assessment in Lesson 13. The planning and scaffolding in the lessons leading up to the assessment will help them understand the steps they need to take to write a pourquoi narrative independently.

In Advance

Prepare Parts of Speech anchor chart (see supporting materials).
Post: Learning targets, Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart.

Tech and Multimedia

Work Time B: Students revise their drafts using Google Docs or other word processing software. Remind students to use tools like spell-check to ensure the accuracy of their writing.
Work Time C: Students record themselves reading their stories using software or apps such as Audacity or GarageBand.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 3.I.A.4, 3.I.C.10, 3.II.A.1, 3.II.B.4.

Important points in the lesson itself

The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with explicit instruction regarding comparative and superlative adjectives, which follow relatively predictable patterns.
Students may find it challenging to get their ideas on paper as they revise their tales. Encourage students to keep writing and remind the class that everybody works at a different pace. Commend students for doing an excellent job working to write in English.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

For Opening A, buy or ask for large paint chips from a local hardware or paint store or print them online. Write the words precise, specific, and exact, each one on a different shade of the paint chip. Place them on the wall and discuss the shades of meaning in relation to narrative writing.
Invite students to experiment with expanding nouns in their narratives into noun phrases by adding comparative and superlative adjectives. Guide them to discuss the effect of adding these adjectives to a pourquoi tale and how usage of this type of noun phrase might be different in informational writing.

For heavier support:

The comparative and superlative adjectives mini-lesson may be more difficult for ELLs than for native speakers, as ELLs may not have as intuitive a grasp of the structure. While the handout draws out the patterns in the form, introduce these patterns explicitly earlier in the lesson: Example: "What do you notice about the last two letters when using the comparative adjectives bigger and spottier?" (They end with -er.) "What do you notice about the last three letters of the superlative adjectives spottiest and biggest?" (They end with -est.) Point out that many comparative adjectives end with -er and many superlative adjectives end with -est. If time allows, invite students up to the board and compare things in the classroom using comparative and superlative adjectives.
Students have an end of unit assessment approaching. Take the opportunity to observe any challenges they might encounter working independently. Review any useful charts or strategies that may help them work independently during the assessment. Example: "You look stuck, Cynthia. It looks like you already have the idea for your story right here on your graphic organizer."

Universal Design for Learning

Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): During this lesson, some students may need additional support with understanding comparative and superlative adjectives. Provide some direct instruction by giving many concrete examples that students can find around the classroom or in their homes.
Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): During independent writing, support a range of fine motor abilities and writing need by offering students options for writing utensils. For example, pencil grips, slanted desk, and alternative writing tools. Alternatively, consider supporting students' expressive skills by offering partial dictation of student responses. Varying tools for construction and composition supports students' ability to clearly express information.
Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): In this lesson, students continue work with their porquoi tales. Some students may need support to remember the goal for the work they are doing with this writing. These students benefit from consistent reminders of learning goals and their value or relevance. Students who may struggle with sustained effort and concentration are supported when these reminders are built into the learning environment.

Vocabulary

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

precise, adjective, comparative, superlative (L)

Materials

Parts of Speech (new; teacher created; see supporting materials)
Parts of Speech anchor chart (for teacher reference)
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives (for display)
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout (one per student and one to display)
"Why Do Polliwogs Wiggle?" class narrative (completed in Lesson 6; one for display)
Pourquoi tale (completed in Lesson 10; one per student)
Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
Reading Fluency Self-Assessment Checklist (one per student and one for display)
Narrative Planning Graphic Organizer: End of Unit 1 Assessment (from Lesson 10; one per student)

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

Opening	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes) Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud: "I can revise my pourquoi tale to correctly use comparative and superlative adjectives and to include words and phrases to make it more precise and interesting." "I can read my pourquoi tale aloud accurately and with expression." Explain that students may be unfamiliar with some of the vocabulary in the first learning target, but they will have a better understanding of it by the end of the lesson. Remind students that they have seen the other learning targets in previous lessons. Remind them of what precise means. Explain that today students will help each other revise their pourquoi tales for word choice, which will include comparative and superlative adjectives.	For ELLs and students who may benefit from visual supports: Provide the opportunity to draw or sketch definitions, act them out, or list synonyms for key terms in learning targets, such as revise, pourquoi tale, correctly, comparative, superlative, adjectives, precise, accurately, and expression. Especially for comparative and superlative adjectives, acting out or comparing objects will build student understanding of these concepts. (MMR)

Meeting Students' Needs

A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and select a volunteer to read them aloud:

"I can revise my pourquoi tale to correctly use comparative and superlative adjectives and to include words and phrases to make it more precise and interesting."

"I can read my pourquoi tale aloud accurately and with expression."

Explain that students may be unfamiliar with some of the vocabulary in the first learning target, but they will have a better understanding of it by the end of the lesson.
Remind students that they have seen the other learning targets in previous lessons. Remind them of what precise means.
Explain that today students will help each other revise their pourquoi tales for word choice, which will include comparative and superlative adjectives.

For ELLs and students who may benefit from visual supports: Provide the opportunity to draw or sketch definitions, act them out, or list synonyms for key terms in learning targets, such as revise, pourquoi tale, correctly, comparative, superlative, adjectives, precise, accurately, and expression. Especially for comparative and superlative adjectives, acting out or comparing objects will build student understanding of these concepts. (MMR)

Work Time

Work Time	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Mini Lesson: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives (10 minutes) Focus students on the first learning target and underline the word adjective. Focus students on the Parts of Speech anchor chart. Read through the descriptor at the top of the chart: "Part of speech: one of the categories into which words are often grouped, according to their function." Tell students that "according to their function" means according to how they are used - their purpose. Invite volunteers to read aloud the words in the first column of the chart for the whole group. Tell students that these are some of the different parts of speech. They are the categories into which words are often grouped. Invite volunteers to read aloud the descriptors of each part of speech in the "What is it?" column. Explain that over the course of this module, they will collect examples of each part of speech to record in the 'Example' column. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group: "What is an adjective?" (a word that describes a noun or a pronoun) "What are some adjectives to describe frogs?" (green, moist) "What is the noun those adjectives describe?" (frog) Add these examples to the appropriate rows of the 'Example' column of the Parts of Speech anchor chart. See Parts of Speech anchor chart (for teacher reference). Underline the word comparative. Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group: "What word do you recognize in this word?" (compare) "What does compare mean? When you compare things, what do you do?" (how similar and different two or more things are; when you compare, you look at how they are similar and how they are different) "What do you think a comparative adjective might be?" (a describing word that compares something to something else) Display Visual #1 on Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and then invite responses from the group, using a total participation technique: "So if you were using the adjective big to compare the size of the frog with the arrow to the size of the other, what comparative adjective would you use? The frog with the arrow is _____." (bigger) Display and distribute the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout. Record the comparative adjective in the second column, inviting students to do the same on their handout. See Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout (example, for teacher reference). Display Visual #2 on Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and then invite responses from the group, using a total participation technique: "So if you were comparing the spottiness of the frog with the arrow to the spottiness of the other, what comparative adjective might you use? The frog with the arrow is ________." (spottier) Record the comparative adjective in the second column of the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout, inviting students to do the same on their copy. Refer to the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout (example, for teacher reference). Underline the word superlative. This is a word that students will not know, so it will require clear teaching. Explain that superlative means of the highest quality or degree, and when discussing superlative adjectives and adverbs, it is used to compare one thing to a group of other things. Display Visual #3 on Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and then invite responses from the group, using a total participation technique: "So if you were comparing the size of the frog with the arrow to the size of the other two frogs, what comparative adjective might you use? The frog with the arrow is the ______." (biggest, widest) Record the superlative adjectives students suggest in the third column of the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout, inviting students to do the same on their copy. Refer to the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout (example, for teacher reference). Display Visual #4 on Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and then invite responses from the group, using a total participation technique: "So if you were comparing the spottiness of the frog with the arrow to the spottiness of the other two, what comparative adjective might you use? The frog with the arrow is the ______." (spottiest) Record the comparative adjectives students suggest in the third column of the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout, inviting students to do the same on their copy. Refer to the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout (example, for teacher reference). Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and to help you complete the comparative and superlative adjectives for the other two examples on the handout. Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and then invite responses from the group, using a total participation technique: "What do you notice about how these words change as they become comparative adjectives?" See the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout (example, for teacher reference). Complete the What Do You Notice? box on the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout, inviting students to do the same on their copy. Invite students to discuss with an elbow partner and then invite responses from the group, using a total participation technique: "What do you notice about how these words change as they become superlative adjectives?" See the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout(example, for teacher reference). Complete the What Do You Notice?' box on the Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs handout, inviting students to do the same on their copy.	For students with auditory processing needs: Consider posting discussion questions or giving them to these students before the discussion. (MMR) For ELLs: Ask: "Do you notice a word that almost always comes after comparative adjectives in a sentence?" (than) Confirm that than comes after a comparative adjective when comparing it to something else specific. Write an example: "The poison dart frog is brighter than the wood frog." Ask: "Do you notice a word that almost always comes before a superlative adjective in a sentence?" (the) Confirm that the comes before a superlative adjective. Write an example: "The orange frog is the brightest poison dart frog in the rain forest." For ELLs: Have students practice using comparative adjectives with an elbow partner, using sentence frames to prompt speech. Example: "I am _____-er than a frog."
B. Revising Pourquoi Tale: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives and Word Choice (10 minutes) Pair students up. Display the "Why Do Polliwogs Wiggle?" class narrative. Select a volunteer to read it aloud for the whole group. Remind students of the mini lesson on comparative and superlative adjectives and also of the domain-specific words on the Word Wall and in the back of their Vocabulary Logs. Remind students that word choice can make a story more precise and interesting. Precise words make the story clear and accurate, and interesting words make the story engaging to the reader. Give students a few minutes to work with an elbow partner to discuss whether words could be revised in the class narrative to make the writing more precise or interesting. This could include comparative and superlative adjectives or domain-specific words. Select volunteers to share their ideas with the whole group and revise the class narrative accordingly. Emphasize that words should be added or revised only where it will improve the narrative, not for the sake of adding or revising words. Explain that students will now work together to review their partner's pourquoi tale to check appropriate use of comparative and superlative adjectives and also the choice of words. Post the following directions: 1. Numbers yourselves 1 and 2. 2. #1 read your pourquoi tale aloud. 3. Review the narrative's word choice. Are there any words that are more precise or interesting on the Word Wall or in your Vocabulary Logs that could be used? Are the comparative and superlative adjectives accurate? 4. Repeat for #2. Circulate to support pairs as they review and revise their work. Remind students not to revise for the sake of it; it is important that the revisions make the story more precise and/or interesting.	For ELLs: If there are paint chips with shades of meaning posted in the room, remind students that they can use the paint chips to find more interesting synonyms to use in their writing. For ELLs and students who may need additional support organizing their writing: Provide sentence frames for using comparative and superlative adjectives. Example: "Finally, __(Character)___ felt so much _______ than before." (MMAE) For ELLs and students who may need additional support using resources to support their writing: Foster independence in preparation for the end of unit assessment by ensuring that students are using the available resources effectively as they write. (Example: When circulating the room, ask a student which charts they use when they are trying to think of a vocabulary word to use.) (MMAE)
C. Reading Aloud: Pourquoi Tale (20 minutes) Focus students on the Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart. Select students to read each criterion aloud. Tell students that in the next lesson, they will participate in a Frog Festival in which they will read their pourquoi tales aloud. Tell students that they will be assessed on their performance of their frog tale. Display and distribute the Reading Fluency Self-Assessment Checklist. Select volunteers to read each of the criteria aloud. Invite students to add symbols to help them remember what each one means (for example, a smiling face for facial expressions). Invite students to notice the similarities between the criteria on the checklist and the criteria on the anchor chart. Ask students to pair up with someone new. Post the following directions: Numbers yourselves 1 and 2. #1 read your pourquoi tale aloud. Both of you review the checklist, and #1 self-assess your performance. #2 provide one star and one step using the checklist and anchor chart criteria. Repeat for #2. Circulate to support students through this process. Refocus the group. Invite students to identify two of the criteria that they were weaker on and to highlight those criteria on the checklist. Explain that students are going to practice reading their pourquoi tale aloud now with a focus on improving those two criteria they have identified. Tell students that they can choose to work independently or with a partner. Circulate to support students as they rehearse. Use their highlighted criteria to provide guidance on how they might improve. Focus students on the 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. Make note of students who may need additional support with each of the learning targets moving forward.	For students who may need additional support with reading fluency: Consider having a fluent reader read his or her pourquoi tale one sentence at a time, with the listener repeating the sentence they just heard, trying to match the pacing and expression. (MMR, MMAE)

Closing & Assessments

Closing	Meeting Students' Needs
A. Planning: End of Unit 1 Assessment Pourquoi Tale (15 minutes) Remind students that they began planning the pourquoi tale for their End of Unit 1 Assessment in Lesson 10. Invite students to retrieve their Narrative Planning Graphic Organizer: End of Unit 1 Assessment. Tell them that they are going to continue planning their new pourquoi tale for their End of Unit 1 Assessment during the remaining time in this lesson. Explain that their end of unit assessment will be an assessed piece of work, so they should work on their narrative planning independently. Circulate to support students as they plan.	For ELLs and students who have been more comfortable sketching and writing only a few words in their graphic organizers: Commend the job they have done and encourage them to go one

Closing