Shared Research: Reading Turning Notes into Writing, Part I | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA GK:M3:U2:L5

Shared Research: Reading Turning Notes into Writing, Part I

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • W.K.2: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
  • W.K.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
  • W.K.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
  • SL.K.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • SL.K.1b: Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.
  • SL.K.2: Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
  • L.K.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • L.K.1d: Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
  • L.K.1f: Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.
  • L.K.5: With guidance and support from adults, explore word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
  • L.K.5b: Demonstrate understanding of frequently occurring verbs and adjectives by relating them to their opposites (antonyms).

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can discuss how people depend on trees using our shared notes. (SL.K.1b, SL.K.2)
  • I can contribute ideas about the focus statement in a piece of shared writing. (W.K.2, W.K.7, W.K.8)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During Work Time A, circulate and observe as students briefly discuss the class notes with a partner. Consider using the Speaking and Listening Checklist to document progress toward SL.K.1 and SL.K.2 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Poem and Movement: "Who Depends on Trees?" (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face Protocol: How People Depend on Trees (10 minutes)

B. Analyzing a Model: Be a Friend to Trees (10 minutes)

C. Shared Writing: How People Depend on Trees for Food (25 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • This is the second lesson in a series of three that takes students through the process of creating an informational writing piece based on research, including research reading, note-taking and informational writing. In Work Time C, students begin the writing process based on their People, Trees, and Food: Class Notes.
  • During Work Time C, students participate in shared writing. They reference only the class notes and do not reference the text to help them write. The task of turning notes into sentences will be continued in Lessons 8-11. Pay careful attention to this routine to apply it to subsequent lessons.
  • During Work Time C, students are asked to write their own focus statement before sharing with the class and contributing to the shared writing. Students may simply draw and label because they do not have enough time to write a complete sentence. However, this gives students time to collect their ideas and also provides an opportunity to do a quick formative assessment of who understands the topic and task.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • In Lesson 4, students completed People, Trees, and Food: Class Notes. In this lesson, they discuss the notes to better understand the content before participating in a shared writing piece.

Down the road:

  • In Lesson 6, students will add detail sentences to the shared writing.
  • In Lessons 7-11, students will repeat the research writing process and write an informational piece independently for the Unit 2 Assessment (W.K.2).

In Advance

  • Prepare the People Depend on Trees booklet by writing it on chart paper (see supporting Materials).
  • Post: Learning targets, People Depend on Trees booklet, and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

Consider using an interactive white board or document camera to display lesson Materials.

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-2 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 K.1.C.12, K.2.B.5, and K.2.C.6

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs with opportunities to revisit and apply their learning through partner work with opposites with the animal riddle and shared writing.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to describe the animal they are assigned to make a riddle about. In addition to the Adjectives anchor chart, encourage them to ask for help from classmates and you and to use the basket of realia and visuals you've created and displayed in the classroom as they consider their animal. It may be useful for them to draw their animal first to recall its physical attributes and primary characteristics.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • In the Opening, students may talk about what the animal does (verbs) instead of its attributes (adjectives). Consider creating a visual rubric on the Adjectives anchor chart that shows their chosen words must describe how an animal feels to touch (draw a hand), how it looks (draw an eye), or how it moves (draw squiggly lines to show movement). Instead of providing corrective feedback immediately, refer them back to the chart to confirm whether the word they chose is an adjective.

For heavier support:

  • In the Opening, if students are struggling with describing the animals, consider probing them with a question that helps them select between two opposite adjectives (example: "Is the ______ [squirrel/elephant/dog] ______ [furry/fast/noisy] or ______ [smooth/slow/quiet]?")

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): During the Closing, students reflect on how they acted like a researcher. Some students may need additional support to recall the work they did as a researcher in this lesson. Scaffold memory and access of prior learning by listing the related learning on chart paper or a white board.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): Similar to Unit 1, continue to support students in setting appropriate goals for their effort and the level of difficulty expected.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Some students may need additional support in linking the information presented in the two texts back to the learning target. Invite students to make this connection by explicitly highlighting the utility and relevance of the texts to the learning target. Include opportunities to refocus students' attention to the learning target throughout the lesson and invite students to respond to how the activities are supporting their instructional goal.

Vocabulary

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

New:

  • focus statement (W)

Review:

  • depend, opposite, adjective (L)
  • furry, noisy, light, quick, graceful, clumsy, timid, bold (T)

Materials

  • "Who Depends on Trees?" Version 1 (from Lesson 2)
  • "Who Depends on Trees?" Version 2 (from Lesson 2; for teacher reference)
  • Adjectives anchor chart (begun in Lesson 3; added to in advance; see supporting Materials)
  • Adjectives anchor chart (begun in Lesson 3; example, for teacher reference)
  • People, Trees, and Food: Class Notes (completed in Lesson 4; one to display)
  • Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face Protocol anchor chart (begun in Module 2)
  • What Researchers Do anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1; added to during Work Time C; see supporting Materials)
  • What Researchers Do anchor chart (begun in Unit 1, Lesson 1; example, for teacher reference)
  • Be a Friend to Trees (one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • People Depend on Trees booklet (one to display)
    • Focus statement (page 1 of People Depend on Trees booklet)
  • People Depend on Trees booklet (example, for teacher reference)
  • Pencils (one per student)
  • Paper (lined; several pieces per student)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. 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. Poem and Movement: "Who Depends on Trees?" (10 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Remind students that in the previous lesson, they read a few riddles and tried to figure out what the riddles were describing.
  • Remind students that the riddles described living things that depend (trust and rely) on trees.
  • Tell students that similar to Lesson 3, they are going to revisit the riddles, and this time they are going to focus their attention on specific words that describe those living things.
  • Use the routine from the Opening of Lesson 3 to guide students through the riddle work with adjectives:
    • Remind students that words that describe the living things in the poem have a special name: adjectives.
    • Review the definition of adjectives (words that describe a person, place, or thing) as needed.
    • Direct students' attention to "Who Depends on Trees?" Version 1. Tell them you are going to read Riddles 3 and 4 again, stopping after each riddle to ask them about the adjectives they hear that describe the living things in the riddles.
    • Read the third riddle and, as you read, circle or highlight the adjectives in the riddle. Refer to "Who Depends on Trees?" Version 2 as necessary.
    • Reread the adjectives in the third riddle and tell students that these words describe a bird.
    • Invite students to quietly and quickly stand up and use their bodies to act out each of the adjectives (example: Students flap their arms like wings fast to show quick and flap their arms slow like wings to show slow).
    • Repeat this process with the fourth riddle:
  • Read the riddle and, as you read, circle or highlight the adjectives.
  • Reread the adjectives and remind students that they are describing the subject of the riddle.
  • Invite students to quietly and quickly stand up and use their bodies to act out each of the adjectives.
    • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is the difference between the words quick and slow, light and heavy, graceful and clumsy?" (They are opposites.)

    • Direct students' attention to the Adjectives anchor chart and briefly review it to confirm their understanding that the pairs of adjectives are opposites.
    • Tell students that now they are going to work with a partner to act out the opposite adjectives that have been collected on the Adjectives anchor chart. Refer to the Adjectives anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Move students into pairs.
  • Read the first pair of adjectives (quick and slow).
  • Invite pairs to act out these adjectives.
  • Repeat the process with the remaining adjectives as time permits.
  • Tell students that in the next lesson, they are going to do even more work with the adjectives in all of the riddles!
  • For ELLs: (Leadership) Invite a few students who might normally shy away from participation to demonstrate their gestures for the class.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with Vocabulary and comprehension: (Sentence Frames: Making Connections to Self) For words such as timid and clumsy, invite students to orally practice using their own experiences. Offer examples if students are unsure:
    • I feel timid when ________ [I meet someone new] because ________ [I'm not sure if they'll like me].
    • I felt clumsy when I __________ [tripped over the rug] because _________ [I wasn't walking carefully]. (MMR)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face Protocol: How People Depend on Trees (10 minutes)

  • Refocus the group.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the first one aloud:

"I can discuss how people depend on trees using our shared notes."

  • Direct students' attention to the People, Trees, and Food: Class Notes.
  • Remind students that they worked as researchers to create these notes together in the previous lesson.
  • Emphasize the importance of researchers going back, rereading, understanding, and using their notes.
  • Invite students to chorally read the People, Trees, and Food: Class Notes with you.
  • Tell students they will talk about their notes using the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face protocol to ensure everyone understands them before they use them as a class. Remind them that they used this protocol in Lesson 2 and review as necessary using the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face Protocol anchor chart. (Refer to the Classroom Protocols document for the full version of the protocol.)
  • Guide students through the protocol using the following question with two or three different partners:

"How do people depend on trees for food?"

  • Ask students to return to their seats.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Leadership: Peer Modeling) Before you begin the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face protocol, consider inviting a few students to model the question and potential answers in front of the class. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Metacognition: Print-rich Environment) After the Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face protocol, consider probing students to point to the place in the room that they used to help them answer the question. (Examples: Be a Friend to Trees, the People, Trees, and Food: Class Notes)

B. Analyzing a Model: Be a Friend to Trees (10 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the What Researchers Do anchor chart.
  • Tell students that you added something else to the chart that all researchers do. Refer to the What Researchers Do anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary:
    • "share learning with others through writing"
  • Invite students to think of hand gestures, motions, or actions that could go along with the new item on the anchor chart.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What are some hand gestures, motions, or actions that could go along with this new item on the anchor chart?" (Responses will vary, but may include: showing writing to others.)

  • Remind students that they will write to answer the specific question, more specific than the Unit 2 guiding question: "How do people depend on trees for food?"
  • Point out that oftentimes, before they get started, researchers look at writing by other people and about other things to get ideas for their own writing.
  • Display page 18 of Be a Friend to Trees.
  • Tell students that they are going to look at a different part of the text as a model for their shared writing.
  • While still displaying the text, read aloud pages 18-19.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is the big idea on these two pages?" (Animals make their homes in trees.)

  • Tell students that the first sentence is a special sentence called a focus statement. Define focus statement (a sentence that tells the big idea of your piece of writing).
  • Tell students that focus statements are usually the first sentence in a piece of informational writing. It is important to remember that a focus statement does not include any specific details about the topic but gets the reader ready for the details in the next few sentences.
  • Read the focus statement on page 18:
    • "Many animals make their homes in trees."
  • Remind students that this is the same big idea that they identified. Reiterate that the sentence shares only the big idea and you have to continue reading to find more detailed information.
  • Read the next sentence on page 18:
    • "Birds roost in trees. They build nests and raise their young in trees."
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What is the difference between the focus statement and the next sentence I read?" (The focus statement is about lots of animals, and the next sentence is only about birds.)

  • Give students specific, positive feedback for identifying the difference between the focus statement and the other sentences on the page. Tell them that the other sentences on the page are called detail sentences and contain specific information about the topic.
  • Inform students that they will write detail sentences later, but for now they will work on the focus statement to answer the specific question: "How do people depend on trees for food?"
  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Provide visual support for differentiating the focus statement from supporting sentences. (Example: Display the focus statement on a sentence strip in large, bold print and supporting sentences in smaller print underneath.) (MMR)

C. Shared Writing: How People Depend on Trees for Food (25 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Offer students specific, positive feedback on their work with the focus statement from Be a Friend to Trees and tell them that they will use what they just learned about focus statements to write their own as a class.
    • Tell students that they will do what researchers do; they will use their notes to write what they have learned to answer the question: "How do people depend on trees for food?"
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:

"I can contribute ideas about the focus statement in a piece of shared writing."

  • Review the definition of a focus statement (a sentence that tells the big idea of a piece of writing).
  • Tell students that in a moment, they will go to their workstations and write their own focus statement, just like the one in Be a Friend to Trees. This will help them come to the carpet with ideas so they can write a focus statement as a class.
  • Display page 1 of the People Depend on Trees booklet and follow these steps to complete it with students. Refer to the People Depend on Trees booklet (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
    • Ask students to think about a focus statement that will answer the question "How do people depend on trees for food?" Remind students that focus statements are short, clear answers to the question that do not have detailed information, because that comes later. Give students 30 seconds to think of a response.
    • Turn and Talk:

"What is the big idea that we should share about what people get from trees?" (People get food from trees.)

    • Transition students to their workspaces and invite them to begin using the pencils and paper to draw and label a picture and write a focus statement that shares the big idea about what people get from trees.
    • After 10 minutes, refocus whole group.
    • Invite students to use their writing and think about the following question for 30 seconds. Select volunteers to share out:

"What picture should we draw that will show the big idea about how people depend on trees?" (Responses will vary, but may include: a picture of a person eating food from a tree.)

    • Quickly draw a picture that matches the big idea: People depend on trees for food.
    • Tell students they will now think of a sentence to match that picture. Encourage them to incorporate the word eat in their sentence. Quickly practice skywriting and spelling the word eat, telling students it is a very important word they will use a lot to answer their question.
    • Invite students to use their writing and think about the following question for 30 seconds. Select volunteers to share out:

"Now we need to write a sentence that matches our drawing. What can we say that answers the question 'How do people depend on trees for food?' without giving away details?"

    • As students share, capture their ideas on the focus statement page of the People Depend on Trees booklet. Refer to the People Depend on Trees booklet (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
    • If necessary, reframe student ideas to generate a focus statement similar to the following: "People get food from trees."
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with comprehension: (Visuals) Consider sketching an icon of two people sharing orally next to the bullet point on the What Researchers Do anchor chart to help reinforce its meaning. (MMR)
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with sustaining effort: (Summarizing the Target) Ask students to summarize and then to personalize the learning target. (MME)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Reflecting on Learning (5 minutes)

  • Gather whole group.
  • Offer students specific, positive feedback on their work as researchers, sharing what they know in their writing.
  • Direct students' attention to the What Researchers Do anchor chart. Tell them that they have been doing the hard work of researchers this entire unit, and over the past two lessons they have learned even more things that researchers do. They take notes and share what they have learned in their writing!
  • Tell students they will now reflect on how they worked as a researcher during today's lesson.
  • Turn and Talk:

"How did you act like a researcher today?" (Responses will vary.)

  • Invite a few students to share out.
  • Tell students that they will continue their work as researchers in the next lesson as they continue to share what they know in their writing.
  • For ELLs: (Celebrate) Invite a few students to use the frame: "I noticed _______ was acting like a researcher when he/she _______."
  • Continue to strategically pair students to ensure that they have a strong, politely helpful partner to support their efforts at sharing. (MME)

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