Performance Task: Gathering Evidence | EL Education Curriculum

You are here

Home › Our Curriculum › ELA Grade 5 › ELA G5:M1 › ELA G5:M1:U3 ›

ELA G5:M1:U3:L9

Performance Task: Gathering Evidence

In this Lesson

You are here:

These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.5.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
  • RF.5.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
  • W.5.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
  • W.5.8: Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
  • L.5.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Download Materials

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can gather evidence about the human right threatened in my monologue group's event from Esperanza Rising. (W.5.2, W.5.4, W.5.5, W.5.8)
  • I can fluently read my monologue aloud. (RF.5.4)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Directors' Note Research note-catcher (W.5.2, W.5.4, W.5.5, W.5.8)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening 

A. Engaging the Reader: A Life like Mine (10 minutes)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

2. Work Time 

A. Monologue Group Work: Reading for Gist and Unfamiliar Vocabulary (10 minutes)

B. Monologue Group Work: Rereading to Gather Evidence (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment 

A. Reading Fluency Practice: Peer Critique (15 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:

  • In this lesson, students continue to research and gather evidence for their monologue group's Directors' Note. They research issues related to human rights, select a right that their issue fits under, and learn about how the issue impacts people today (W.5.2, W.5.8). Specific examples of current issues have not been provided in this lesson, as situations can change very quickly. To ensure the content students are researching is up-to-date, websites that describe current threats to human rights have been suggested and will need to be reviewed in advance to identify the issues and the specific web pages that align with the threats to human rights students have highlighted in their monologues (see Technology and Multimedia).
  • This lesson is designed for students to use internet sources as texts. If the technology necessary for students to complete the reading is unavailable, consider providing them with a printed copy of the texts.
  • At the end of the lesson, students practice reading their monologues in preparation for Part III of the End of Unit 3 Assessment and the performance task (RF.5.4).
  • This lesson focuses on the following habits of character: working to become ethical people and working to become effective learners. The characteristics that students are reminded of in this lesson are: respect when sharing ideas during a whole class discussion and perseverance before reading internet research.
  • The research reading that students complete for homework will help build both their vocabulary and knowledge pertaining to human rights. 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:

  • Students continue to gather evidence to use in their monologue group's Directors' Note.
  • Throughout Unit 1, students were introduced to various total participation techniques (for example, cold calling, equity sticks, Think-Pair-Share, etc.). When following the directive to "Use 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 and 2 Conversation Cues to promote productive and equitable conversation.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Much of this lesson is discussion-based, so some students may need additional support with oral language and/or auditory processing. Consider providing sentence frames for students to refer to during discussions or a note-taking template for them to take notes during discussion.
  • Students may need additional support reading the research websites. Consider allowing groups to use A Life like Mine as an additional research text to find how people today are impacted by the human rights issues they are researching.

Assessment guidance:

  • Check student learning by reading their completed note-catchers, as incorrect information on these will affect the factual accuracy of the Directors' Notes they will write in the next lesson.
  • Consider using the Speaking and listening Informal Assessment: Collaborative Discussion Checklist during students' expert group work in Work Times A and B (see the Tools page).
  • Consider using the Reading: Foundational Skills Informal Assessment: Reading Fluency Checklist during the peer critique in Closing and Assessment A (see the Tools page).
  • In the Closing, listen to students reading aloud to each other to identify any common issues that can be used as teaching points in the next lesson.

Down the road:

  • Students will use their Directors' Note Research note-catchers in the next lesson to write the Directors' Note as a group. They will revise and edit their group's Directors' Note as part of the End of Unit 3 Assessment.
  • For Part III of the End of Unit 3 Assessment, students will read aloud an excerpt from Esperanza Rising. They will also read their monologues aloud as part of the final performance task at the end of the unit. The reading fluency practice in this lesson helps students work toward that goal.

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Technology necessary for each student to read his or her monologue group's research text.
    • Research resources for monologue groups to use for further research in Work Time A. Each group will need a website with information pertaining to their human right. As a group, students will read the page and determine the gist of each paragraph. Websites describing current issues have been provided in the Technology and Multimedia section and should be previewed to identify current issues connected to the human rights students have focused on in their monologues. Students will need to be either directed to the appropriate web pages for their research or be provided with printed copies of the relevant text(s).
  • Review the Thumb-O-Meter and Peer Critique protocols (see Classroom Protocols).
  • Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts.

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time B: Prepare technology necessary for each student to access:
  • Consider that YouTube, social media video sites, and other website links may incorporate inappropriate content via comment banks and ads. Although some lessons include these links as the most efficient means to view content in preparation for the lesson, preview links and/or use a filter service, such as www.safeshare.tv, for viewing the links in the classroom.
  • Work Time B: Students complete their note-catchers in a word-processing document, such as a Google Doc, using speech-to-text facilities activated on devices or using an app or software like Dictation.io.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standard 5.I.B.6, and 5.I.C.10

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to use a graphic organizer to collect information and plan for writing their Directors' Note. They will also more deeply examine dimensions of human rights. This will provide them with necessary schema for writing their Directors' Notes successfully.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • Create roles for each group member to facilitate collaboration as they work to gather evidence in their note-catchers. Invite an advanced or intermediate proficiency student to take on a reader, writer, or evidence detective position.

For heavier support:

  • If a group contains many ELLs and students who need heavier support, consider working closely with this group to complete their evidence gathering as a shared experience.
  • During Work Time B, distribute a partially filled-in copy of the Directors' Note Research note-catcher. This provides students with models for the kind of information they should enter and reduces the volume of writing required. 

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Provide multiple representations of gathering evidence both conceptually and specifically as required in the basic structure of this lesson. 
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Some students may need additional support reading the text on the research websites. Provide printouts of targeted text with recordings on tape so that students can read along. 
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Increase engagement in this lesson by emphasizing the role of the internet for academic or activist purposes. Tell students that they are working to highlight threats to human rights and can use the internet as a tool to draw information that they can share with others to increase awareness. 

Vocabulary

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

  • evidence, impact (L)

Materials

  • A Life like Mine (one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 2)
  • Vocabulary logs (from Unit 1, Lesson 4; one per student)
  • Monologue group norms (from Lesson 1; one per monologue group)
  • Directors' Note Research note-catcher (from Lesson 8; one per student and one to display)
  • Device (one per student and one to display; see Technology and Multimedia)
  • Research resources (one per student based on his or her monologue group; see Teaching Notes)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 2)
  • Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Unit 2, Lesson 13)
  • Model Directors' Note (from Lesson 8; one to display)
  • Esperanza Rising (from Unit 1, Lesson 2; one per student)
  • Simplified version of the UDHR (from Unit 1, Lesson 4; one per student)
  • How Were the Human Rights of the Characters in Esperanza Rising Threatened? anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 4)
  • Domain-Specific Word Wall (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 3)
  • Monologue drafts (begun in Lesson 5; one per student)
  • Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart (begun in Lesson 8)
  • Peer Critique anchor chart (begun in Unit 2, Lesson 8)
  • Directions for Peer Critique (one per student and one for display)
  • Sticky notes (two per student; preferably two different colors)

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. Engaging the Reader: A Life like Mine (10 minutes)

  • Remind students they have begun working on applying their learning and raising awareness about human rights by starting to gather evidence and plan their monologue group's Directors' Note.
  • Display pages 114-115 from A Life like Mine. Remind students that A Life like Mine is based on a set of rights, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that were written especially for children, called the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 
  • Remind students that they have read excerpts from this book in Units 1 and 2 to connect Esperanza Rising and the UDHR to the present.
  • Read the title of the section aloud: "Every child has the right to free expression." Tell students they are going to read this section to learn more about how they can express themselves to raise awareness about issues they feel strongly about, like human rights.
  • Invite students to follow along, reading silently in their heads as you read pages 114-116 of A Life like Mine aloud. 
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"How can you express yourself?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Continue reading page 117 aloud, ensuring that students get to see the photographs.
  • Ask:

"What did this part of the text make you think about?"

  • Invite students to spend 3 minutes reflecting silently. Reflection can include thinking or writing/drawing on paper. Students must be silent when they do this, however. 
  • After 3 minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Ethical People anchor chart and remind them of the habit of respect before inviting volunteers to share their ideas aloud. Do not force anyone to share their ideas with the group.
  • For ELLs: Be aware that these issues and photographs may elicit uncomfortable emotions or memories for some students. Allow students the opportunity to silently write or reflect if they need to do so.
  • Remind students that feeling uncomfortable or sad about the excerpt or the photographs is okay. Students should feel comfortable expressing these emotions to the class. (MME)

B. Reviewing Learning Targets (5 minutes)

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

"I can gather evidence about the human right threatened in my monologue group's event from Esperanza Rising."

"I can fluently read my monologue aloud."

  • Circle the word evidence and use a total participation technique to invite responses from the group:

"What does it mean to gather evidence about a topic?" (to find facts or proof)

  • Tell students that when researching a topic, they must find evidence to support their ideas about the topic.
  • Add evidence to the Academic Word Wall. Invite students to add translations of the word in their home languages in a different color next to the target vocabulary.
  • Invite students to also add the word to their vocabulary logs.
  • Tell students that today they will continue working on the Directors' Note in their programs by researching ways people today are impacted by the human right threatened in their group's event from Esperanza Rising and by finding evidence to support their ideas.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: To ensure that the purpose of collecting evidence is transparent, prompt students with a Conversation Cue: 

"Can you figure out why it is so important to support our ideas with evidence?" (Responses will vary, but may include: so our readers know where we got our ideas; so our readers know we are not making our ideas up; to provide examples so our readers better understand our ideas.) (MME)

  • Engage in a discussion about the new vocabulary word evidence. Ask:

"Why do detectives look for evidence?" 

"What are some examples of some evidence that detectives find?" 

  • Tell students that they will be like detectives trying to find evidence to demonstrate the human right that is being threatened. (MMR, MME)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Monologue Group Work: Reading for Gist and Unfamiliar Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Invite students to sit with their monologue groups and spend a few minutes reading through the monologue group norms they generated in Lesson 1.
  • Invite students to take out their Directors' Note Research note-catchers and remind them that they have been using this note-catcher to gather evidence to use when writing their group's Directors' Note.
  • Remind students that in the previous lesson, they worked on gathering evidence to summarize their group's excerpt from Esperanza Rising and connecting the UDHR to their excerpt. Tell students that today they will continue to gather evidence to connect the UDHR to their excerpt and to gather evidence about how people today are impacted by the human rights issue.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What human right is threatened by the event described in your group's excerpt from Esperanza Rising?" (Responses will vary based on each group's excerpt.)

"How is that human right violated or threatened in your group's excerpt?" (Responses will vary based on each group's excerpt.)

  • Tell students that today they will use the internet to read a new text related to the human right threatened in their monologue group's excerpt from Esperanza Rising.
  • Model using a device to access the research resources. 
  • Direct students' attention to the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart and quickly review it.
  • Tell students that the text they will read is challenging and may have unfamiliar words. Reassure them that just like when they read other texts this year, they are not expected to understand all of it the first time they read it. Remind them that one key to being a strong reader of difficult text is being willing to struggle.
  • Focus students on the Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, specifically persevere. Remind students that as they work to read a challenging new text, they will need to persevere.
  • If necessary, remind students that finding the gist of a text means thinking about what that section was mostly about. Reassure them that what they think the gist of a text is might be a little inaccurate or incomplete after reading it for the first time. Explain that this is why we need to read texts more than once. Reading for the gist gives the reader a "big picture" frame that will make it easier to go back and more carefully identify key details in the text.
  • Invite students to work with their monologue groups to:
    • Use their device to access the appropriate research resources for their group
    • Read their resource
    • Discuss the gist of each paragraph 
  • Circulate to support students in rereading and finding the gist.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: While modeling browsing the 8 Fundamental Rights to connect it to an event, display strategies for successfully finding the connecting right. Examples:
    • Look for a key word, such as home.
    • Use the process of elimination-figure out what it is not.
    • Read each right carefully and think about how it relates to your group's event. (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: Buy or ask for large paint chips from a local hardware or paint store or print them online. Write the words fundamental, basic, primary, and essential, each one on a different shade of the paint chip. Place them on the wall and discuss the shades of meaning in relation to human rights. (MMR) 
  • For ELLs: Allow students to briefly summarize the text in their home languages. Example: "This task may be very difficult. To make it easier, you can take 2 minutes to talk about this with a partner who shares your home language. Then we can share in English. _____ (student's name), since you are the only student who is able to speak in wonderful ____ (e.g., Urdu), feel free to think quietly or write in _____ (e.g., Urdu)."
  • For students who may need additional support reading the text on the website: Consider providing an audio version of the excerpt so students can read along with the recording. (MMAE)

B. Monologue Group Work: Rereading to Gather Evidence (20 minutes)

  • Display and focus students' attention back to the Directors' Note Research note-catcher. 
  • Select a volunteer to read the focus question aloud: "What human rights were threatened in Esperanza Rising, and how do these issues impact people today?" Remind students that this will be the focus of their Directors' Note.
  • Point out the Sources section at the top of the note-catcher. 
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What sources, or texts, have we been using to gather evidence for our Directors' Note?" (Esperanza Rising and research web pages)

  • Invite students to record the titles and authors of these texts in the appropriate spot on their note-catchers.
  • Focus students on the third box: Impact Today. Tell students that now they will reread their group's text to gather evidence about how people today are impacted by the human rights issue threatened in their excerpt from Esperanza Rising.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What does impact mean?" (effect)

"How can a human rights issue impact someone?" (An issue can affect people when their human rights are threatened; for example, Esperanza was impacted or affected by losing her home in the fire caused by her uncles because she did not have a safe place to live.)

  • Display the third paragraph from the model Directors' Note. 
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What human right is threatened by this event?" (taking someone's property from them)

"What challenge is faced by people today related to this event?" (not having a home; home/property not safe because of war, crime, or violence)

"How are peoples' lives impacted by this challenge?" (People have been forced to leave their homes because of war; people's property has been destroyed by bombings or fires; they feel scared and uncertain.)

  • Invite students to work with their monologue groups to: 
    • Reread their monologue group research text
    • Complete the Impact Today box on their own Directors' Note Research note-catcher
  • Tell students that after they complete this box, they should work with their group to finish any incomplete sections from the Summary of Excerpt from Esperanza Rising, the UDHR Connection, and the Reflection boxes.
  • Tell students that they should refer to their group's excerpt from Esperanza Rising, the simplified version of the UDHR, the How Were the Human Rights of the Characters in Esperanza Rising Threatened? anchor chart, and the domain-specific word wall as they work.
  • Circulate to support students as they work.
  • Tell students they are now going to use the Thumb-O-Meter protocol to reflect on their progress toward the first learning target. Remind them that they used this protocol in Lesson 8 and review as necessary. Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol. 
  • Guide students through the Thumb-O-Meter protocol using the first learning target. Scan the responses and make a note of students who may need more support with this moving forward.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: In preparation for group work, ask: 

"Why do you think it is important to gather evidence about how this issue impacts peoples' lives now?" (Answers will vary, but may include: so the reader knows why it is so important to know about.) (MMR)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reading Fluency Practice: Peer Critique (15 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Invite students to retrieve their monologue drafts.
  • Invite students to find a partner and to label themselves A and B. 
  • Direct students' attention to the Fluent Readers Do These Things anchor chart and review the criteria.
  • Direct students' attention to the Peer Critique anchor chart and remind them of what peer critique looks and sounds like.
  • Display and distribute Directions for Peer Critique and read them aloud for the group. Invite students to ask questions to ensure they understand what to do.
  • Distribute sticky notes.
  • Circulate to support students as they work together to give feedback to one another.
  • Tell students they are now going to use the Thumb-O-Meter protocol to reflect on their progress toward the second learning target. Remind them that they used this protocol earlier in the lesson and review as necessary. Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol. 
  • Guide students through the Thumb-O-Meter protocol using the second learning target. Scan student responses and make a note of students who may need more support with this moving forward.
  • Repeat, inviting students to self-assess against how well they showed respect and persevered in this lesson.
  • For ELLs: Consider pairing students with a partner who has more advanced or native language proficiency. The partner with greater language proficiency can serve as a model in the pair, offering a model and helpful feedback for fluency work. 
  • For ELLs: When circulating to support fluency, focus on flow, stress, and intonation. Refrain from providing feedback on accent and pronunciation. Do so only when it significantly obscures the meaning and obstructs communication.
  • Provide differentiated mentors by purposefully preselecting student groups. Consider meeting with the mentors in advance to share their thought process. (MMAE)

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 reading and writing: Refer to the suggested homework support in Lesson 1. (MMAE, MMR)

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