Determining Theme and Summarizing a Text: Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G4:M4:U2:L2

Determining Theme and Summarizing a Text: Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RL.4.1: Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
  • RL.4.2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
  • RL.4.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
  • L.4.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
  • L.4.5a: Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context.
  • L.4.5b: Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can summarize Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest. (RL.4.1, RL.4.2)
  • I can explain the meaning of similes and metaphors in Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest. (L.4.5a)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Summarizing The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 (RL.4.1, RL.4.2)
  • Similes and Metaphors in The Hope Chest (L.4.5a)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

B. Reading in Triads: The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 (25 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Summarizing Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment 

A. Similes and Metaphors in Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest (10 minutes)

4. Homework

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

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • This lesson follows a similar structure to Lesson 1, with students reading Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest in triads, determining themes that were evident in the chapter, and summarizing the chapter (RL.4.1, RL.4.2, L.4.5b).
  • In the Closing, students analyze the meaning of a metaphor in Chapter 9 (L.4.5a).

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In this lesson, students follow the same routines that were used in Lesson 1 to read and summarize a new chapter of The Hope Chest.
  • Areas in which students may need additional support:
  • Students may need additional support with reading the chapter and summarizing the text. Distribute the sentence frame for students who may need additional support in writing their summaries. Consider inviting students who need additional support to a group for focused teacher guidance.

Assessment guidance:

  • Review student summaries to identify common issues to use as whole group teaching points in the next lesson.

Down the road:

  • In the next lesson, students will follow a similar routine to read and summarize Chapter 10 of The Hope Chest. 

In Advance

  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 4.I.B.6, 4.I.B.7, 4.I.B.8, 4.I.C.10, 4.I.C.11

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to return to familiar routines for reading The Hope Chest in triads; discussing idioms, adages, and proverbs; and identifying emerging themes in the text. Additionally, this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to practice writing a summary in preparation for the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment in Lesson 8, and to unpack the meaning of similes and metaphors in context, increasing their comprehension of The Hope Chest.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to keep pace with the linguistic and cognitive demands of the many tasks and concepts covered in this lesson. Model and think aloud processes as needed, and work closely with students who need additional support (see Levels of support and Meeting Students' Needs).

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Before providing modeling, observe student interaction and allow students to grapple. Provide demonstrations only after students have grappled with the task. Observe the areas in which they struggle to target appropriate support.
  • During the Mini Language Dive, 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.") 

For heavier support:

  • Consider reading Chapter 9 aloud to students before the lesson, and inviting students to practice reading aloud a section of the chapter that they can then be responsible for reading in their triads in Opening B.
  • Consider adding language structures often used in metaphors as "clues" under the definition of metaphors in the Similes and Metaphors anchor chart ("___ is a ___; ___ was a ___; ___ are a ___"). Students can then use these to generate their own metaphors during Closing and Assessment, which will help reinforce their meaning and function. 

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Some students may need additional scaffolding and practice to understand the difference between similes and metaphors. Support students in making these connections by using similes and metaphors in the classroom when possible, highlighting their meaning to make this language more familiar.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Continue to support a range of fine motor abilities and writing need by offering students options for writing utensils. Also consider supporting students' expressive skills by offering partial dictation of student responses.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Similar to Unit 1, students have opportunities to share ideas and thinking with classmates in this lesson. Continue to support students' engagement and self-regulatory skills during these activities by modeling and providing sentence frames as necessary. 

Vocabulary

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

  • summarize, similes and metaphors (L)
  • livestock (T)

Materials

  • The Hope Chest (from Unit 1, Lesson 1; one per student and one to display)
  • Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Vocabulary logs (from Module 1; one per student)
  • Theme anchor charts (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 6; added to during Opening B; see supporting materials)
  • Theme Anchor Charts: Chapter 9 (example, for teacher reference)
  • Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 6; added to during Opening B; see supporting materials)
  • Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 6; example, for teacher reference)
  • Summarizing The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 (one per student and one to display)
  • Summarizing The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 (example, for teacher reference)
  • Model summary (from Unit 1, Lesson 6; one to display)
  • Criteria of an Effective Summary anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
  • Timer (one per triad)
  • Summary sentence frame (from Unit 1, Lesson 6; new; optional; for students needing additional support)
  • Similes and Metaphors in The Hope Chest (from Lesson 1; added to during the Closing; one per student and one to display)
  • Similes and Metaphors in The Hope Chest (from Lesson 1; example, for teacher reference)

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. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

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

"I can summarize Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest."

"I can explain the meaning of similes and metaphors in Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest."

  • Remind students that they saw both of these learning targets in the previous lesson for Chapter 8 of The Hope Chest.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension and engagement: (Working on Same Learning Target) Invite students to discuss how they previously worked toward each learning target. (MMR, MME)

B. Reading in Triads: The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 (25 minutes)

  • Invite students to get into their reading triads and use the same routine from Unit 1 (and the Opening B of Lesson 1) to guide them through reading Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest.
    • Direct students' attention to the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart, and review respect, compassion, and empathy as needed.
    • Remind students to refer to the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and to record unfamiliar vocabulary in their vocabulary logs.
  • Direct students' attention to the Theme anchor charts and follow the same routine from Unit 1 (and Opening B of Lesson 1) to guide them through the process of identifying any new themes and addingevidence of themes to the anchor charts. Refer to Theme Anchor Charts: Chapter 9 (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Use the same routine from Opening B of Lesson 1 to guide students through adding new idioms, adages, and proverbs to the anchor chart:
    • Direct students' attention to the Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart and review idioms, adages, and proverbs as needed.
    • Display page 101 and invite students to read chorally with you, from "I don't think so" to "Looks aren't everything."
    • Tell students that when Myrtle said, "Looks aren't everything," she was saying an adage or a proverb.
    • Think-Triad-Share:

"What does Myrtle mean?" (Just because someone is good looking, that isn't everything. They need to be good people, too).

Conversation Cue: "Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Record this adage on the Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart. Refer to Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
    • Give students an example of when you might use it in real life. (Example: When someone is buying a car because he likes the way it looks, you might use this idiom to remind him to think about what he needs the car to do, and how it actually works. Just because it looks good, it doesn't mean it will suit the purpose it is needed for.)
    • Repeat this process with page 103, from "Violet didn't know who these men were" to "... the police were after him for."
    • Focus students on "Mother and Father would probably have thought Mr. Martin was beyond the pale," and tell them that this is an idiom.
    • Think-Triad-Share:

"What do you think 'beyond the pale' means?" (not a very good person)

Conversation Cue: "Who can add on to what your classmate said?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Confirm that "beyond the pale" means unacceptable behavior, and record this idiom on the Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart. Continue to refer to Idioms, Adages, and Proverbs anchor chart (example, for teacher reference).
    • Give students an example of when you might use it in real life. (Example: When someone has broken school rules, you might describe her behavior as being beyond the pale.)
  • For students who may need additional support with strategy development: Invite students to share a strategy that helps them identify an idiom in the text. Provide sentence frames for support. (Example: One thing that helps me identify an idiom as I am reading is ___.) (MMAE)
  •  For ELLs and students who may need additional support with activating prior knowledge: (Summarizing) Before reading, invite students to summarize Chapter 8 of The Hope Chest in 1 minute or less (with feedback) and then again in 30 seconds or less with a partner. (MMR)                
  • For ELLs: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Identifying Themes) Consider modeling and thinking aloud the process for identifying a theme and using sticky notes to mark proof of evidence in the chapter.
  • For ELLs: (Idioms, Adages, Proverbs: Sketching and Personalizing) Invite one or two students sketch the meaning of the adage "looks aren't everything" and the idiom "beyond the pale" in the margin next to each example on the chart. Challenge students to think about how any idiom, adage, or proverb on the chart might apply to an experience in their own lives. Invite students to share examples with the class, and clarify the meaning as needed.
  • For ELLs: (Mini Language Dive) "'When you know right from wrong, / don't let anyone tell you differently.'" (page 111 of The Hope Chest)
    • Deconstruct: Discuss the sentence and each chunk. Language goals for focus structure:
      • "Who is talking to whom in this chunk? How do you know?" The quotation marks signal that it is dialogue. The pronoun you refers to Violet, and these are words Miss Kelley says to her. We know because in the previous sentence, Miss Kelley is talking to Violet and the quotation marks indicate that she is still speaking to her. (dependent clause)
      • right from wrong: "What does Miss Kelley tell Violet that she knows?" Miss Kelley says that Violet knows the difference between a good way to treat people and a bad way to treat people. (noun phrase)
      • Students can chorally read this chunk, holding out one palm when they read the word right and another palm when they read wrong. Students can then discuss in pairs what they have learned from The Hope Chest about the things Violet knows are right and the things she knows are wrong.
    • Practice: "How can you say this chunk in your own words?" (Responses will vary.)
    • Reconstruct:

"How can you say this sentence in your own words?" (Responses will vary.)

"How does your understanding of this sentence add to your understanding of the chapter theme of standing up for what is right?" (Responses will vary.)

    • Practice: When you know __________, don't ____________________.

"How might you use this sentence structure to introduce the theme you will write about in your summary?" (Responses will vary.)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Summarizing Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest (20 minutes)

  • Distribute and display Summarizing The Hope Chest, Chapter 9.
  • Use the same routine from Work Time A of Lesson 1 to guide students through completing the theme and supporting details graphic organizer in triads, and then writing a summary of the part of the chapter where they found evidence of one of the themes.
    • Remind students to refer to:
      • Model summary
      • Criteria of an Effective Summary anchor chart
    • Invite triads to use timers to orally summarize in 15 seconds or less before writing.
    • Distribute Summary sentence frames as necessary.
    • Circulate to support students as they write.Refer to Summarizing The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • When 2 minutes remain, refocus the whole group. Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the first learning target.
  • For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: Invite students to share the purpose for identifying the theme in a chapter. Confirm understanding by restating the purpose. Say: "Yes, identifying the theme helps us understand the author's message in the text." (MME)
  • For ELLs: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Completing the Graphic Organizer and Writing a Summary) Consider modeling and thinking aloud the process for completing the Summarizing The Hope Chest, Chapter 9 graphic organizer, and then using the information in the summary to write a summary. Display the summary as an additional model for students to use when writing their own summaries.
  • For ELLs: (Shared Summary) Consider working closely with a group of students to write their summaries as a shared or interactive writing experience. Display the shared writing for students to refer to when writing summaries independently in future lessons.

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Similes and Metaphors in Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest (10 minutes)

  • Invite students to retrieve their Similes and Metaphors in The Hope Chest handout and select volunteers to read aloud the definitions and examples.
  • Invite students to turn to page 98 of The Hope Chest and focus them on the sentence:
    • "But darkness had fallen, and the only thing Violet could see out the window was the reflection of the inside of the train car."
  • Read aloud the sentence, and then invite students to read it chorally with you.
  • Think-Triad-Share:

"Think about what happens when something falls. Does darkness actually fall?" (no--the sky goes from daylight to darkness slowly)

Conversation Cue: "Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why?" (Responses will vary.)

"Is this a simile or metaphor? How do you know?" (metaphor; it describes the darkness with the word fallen, which isn't connected to the word. Darkness doesn't actually fall.)

"How does this description, 'darkness had fallen,' help you as a reader?" (It makes you think that darkness came quickly.)

  • Invite students to add this example and what it means to the "Metaphors" column. Refer to Similes and Metaphors in The Hope Chest (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Two minutes before the end of the allocated time, refocus the whole group. Use a checking for understanding technique (e.g., Red Light, Green Light or Thumb-O-Meter) for students to self-assess against the second learning target.
  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Invite students to fill in the blanks of metaphor sentences with prewritten index cards containing the missing words. Example: "The ____ was a ____." (playground, zoo) (MMR)
  • For ELLs: (Visualizing and Sketching) Remind students that similes and metaphors are examples of figurative language used by authors to create a vivid image for the reader. As the class discusses the meaning of the metaphor "darkness had fallen" presented in Chapter 9 of The Hope Chest, invite students to close their eyes, visualize the sentence, and then sketch the meaning on their handout.
  • For ELLs: (Using Language Structures to Generate Metaphors) Point out that metaphors can be created by using the verb to be + a. Invite students to use this language structure to compare two things that are not directly connected, generating their own metaphors. Provide the following sentence frames: "_____ are a ______; ________ was a _________; _____ is a ___________." ("You are a doll; The classroom was a zoo; My hair is a bird's nest.") Consider adding student ideas as examples to the chart.

Homework

HomeworkMeeting Students' Needs

A. Accountable Research Reading. Select a prompt and respond in the front of your independent reading journal.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with written expression: (Oral Response) Read aloud, discuss, and respond to your prompt orally with a partner, a family member, or a student from Grades 3 or 5, or record an audio response. (MMAE)

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