- I can describe characters' actions in the text The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard. (RL.2.1, RL.2.3, RL.2.5)
- I can write a sentence to describe a paleontologist's action. (W.2.3, L.2.1f)
These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:
- RL.2.1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
- RL.2.3: Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
- RL.2.5: Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
- W.2.3: Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
- L.2.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- L.2.1d: Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).
- L.2.1f: Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).
Daily Learning Targets
Ongoing Assessment
- During the Opening, use the Language Checklist (L.2.1, L.2.1d) to track students' progress toward these language standards (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
- During Work Time A, listen for students to describe characters' actions using details in the text. (RL.2.1, RL.2.5)
- During Work Time B, circulate and observe if students are able to write a sentence describing a paleontologists' action. (W.2.3, L.2.1f)
Agenda
Agenda | Teaching Notes |
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1. Opening A. Developing Language: Irregular Past-tense Verbs in "I Found a Baby Dinosaur," Version 1 (10 minutes) 2. Work Time A. Focused Read-aloud: : The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard, section entitled "The Search for the Tiniest Bones" (20 minutes) B. Developing Language: Action Verbs (25 minutes) 3. Closing and Assessment A. Think-Pair-Share: Initiative and Perseverance (5 minutes) |
Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:
How this lesson builds on previous work:
Areas in which students may need additional support:
Down the road:
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In Advance
- Prepare:
- Applicable anchor charts (see materials list).
- Paleontologist's Action Sentence sheets (see supporting materials).
- Pre-distribute materials for Work Time B at student workspaces to ensure a smooth transition.
- Preview the focused read-aloud of the excerpt "The Search for the Tiniest Bones" from The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard in order to familiarize yourself with what will be required of students.
- Post: Learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).
Tech and Multimedia
Consider using an interactive white board or document camera to display lesson materials.
- Opening: Record the whole group reciting the "I Found a Baby Dinosaur" poem and post it on a teacher webpage or on a portfolio app such as Seesaw for students to listen to at home with families. Most devices (cellphones, tablets, laptop computers) come equipped with free video and audio recording apps or software.
- Work Time A: Create the Narrative Planner: The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard anchor chart in an online format--for example, a Google Doc--to display and for families to access at home to reinforce these skills.
Supporting English Language Learners
Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 2.I.A.1, 2.I.B.6, 2.I.C.10, 2.I.C.12, 2.II.B.3, and 2.II.B.4
Important points in the lesson itself
- The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by introducing the irregular past tense using a fun rhyming poem on the module topic, encouraging students to act out the verbs in the poem, inviting students to focus on one aspect of narrative writing (character's actions) in a short excerpt of the mentor text The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard, and providing opportunities for students to process their learning orally.
- ELLs might find it challenging to write sentences independently and in the time allotted. Encourage students by reminding them of all they have learned so far in the module, and remind them to use the anchor charts and other environmental resources around the room to help them write. Invite them to take risks, reassuring them that they will have many opportunities to refine their writing during the unit. See "Levels of Support" below and the Meeting Students' Needs column for additional suggestions.
Levels of support
For lighter 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."
- During Work Time B, encourage students to create sentence frames for students who need heavier support to use when writing Paleontologist's Action sentences. (Examples: "Today I _________ a very big bone! I ______ deep into the dirt with my shovel.")
- Challenge students to paraphrase for students who need heavier support.
For heavier support:
- During Opening A, read the first two lines of the poem and then invite students to read the same lines after you. Continue echo reading to the end of the poem, two lines at at time. Repeat this process until students are able to read the entire poem with confidence.
- Consider covering each column and row of the Narrative Planner: The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard anchor chart and the Paleontologist's Actions, Feelings, and Thoughts anchor chart with separate pieces of chart paper. Uncover the part of the chart that you complete with the class, while leaving the rest of the chart covered. This will allow students to focus on one task at a time and will keep them from being overwhelmed by the text and concepts presented on the charts.
- During Work Time B, encourage students to use sentence frames created by more proficient students to write their sentences. Alternatively, work closely with a group of students who need heavier support to write their sentences as a shared or interactive writing experience.
Universal Design for Learning
- Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): To facilitate effective learning during this lesson, ensure all students have access to the directions in each session and feel comfortable with the expectations. Vary the ways in which you convey expectations for each activity or task. Consider engaging in a clarifying discussion about the directions, or creating an outline of the steps in Work Times A and B.
- Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): In Work Time B, students write an action sentence. When introducing this independent writing task, support a range of fine motor abilities and writing needs. Vary methods for fine motor responses by offering students options for drawing utensils, writing tools, and scaffolds.
- Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): During the Closing, give students specific, positive feedback on their hard work and effort for the day. Foster a sense of community and provide options for physical action by inviting students to give themselves a special applause.
Vocabulary
Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L): Text-Specific Vocabulary (T): Vocabulary Used in Writing (W):
New:
- past, past-tense, irregular, present-tense, mentor (L)
Review:
- noun, verb, compelling (L)
Materials
- "I Found a Baby Dinosaur," version 1 (one to display)
- Irregular Past-tense Verbs anchor chart (new; co-created with students during the Opening; see Teaching Notes)
- Irregular Past-tense Verbs anchor chart (answers, for teacher reference)
- The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard (from Lesson 1; one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
- Unit 3 Guiding Question anchor chart (from Lesson 1; one to display)
- Narrative Planner: The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Work Time A; see supporting materials)
- Narrative Planner: The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)
- Paleontologist's Actions, Feelings, and Thoughts anchor chart (new; co-created with students during Work Time B; see supporting materials)
- Paleontologist's Actions, Feelings, and Thoughts anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)
- Paleontologist's Action Sentence sheet (one for teacher modeling and one per student)
- Pencils (one per student)
- Fossils Word Wall (from Unit 1)
- Working to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (begun in Module 1)
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
Opening | Meeting Students' Needs |
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A. Developing Language: Irregular Past-tense Verbs in "I Found a Baby Dinosaur," Version 1 (10 minutes)
"What is happening in this poem?" (A child brings home a pet dinosaur; the dinosaur messes up his home and his things.)
"In the poem, what past-tense verb matches the present-tense verb find?" (found)
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Work Time
Work Time | Meeting Students' Needs |
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A. Focused Read-aloud: The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard, section entitled "The Search for the Tiniest Bones" (20 minutes)
"Who is the main character in this narrative?" (Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard) "What do you remember about Holly from yesterday's read-aloud?" (She is a paleontolo- gist; she digs for Maiasaura bones at the "Egg Mountain" dig site; she works with a crew.)
"I can describe characters' actions in the text The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard."
"What are some actions that a paleontologist might take?" (Responses will vary, but may include: dig, shovel, chisel, chip, brush, study, see.)
"Who is the main character in this narrative?" (Holly Woodward Ballard) "What happened in this part of the narrative?" (Responses will vary, but may include: Holly wants to find tiny Maiasaura bones so she can learn more about how they grew; She found a tiny bone and had to be very careful as she took it from the ground.)
"How do authors write compelling narratives?"
"Where was Holly?" (the Maiasaura bone bed, Egg Mountain) "What tools did she have?" (awl, whisk broom, brushes, glue)
"What actions did Holly take to discover the fossil?" (carefully removed pieces of mud- stone, gently brushed the bone's surface, applied a special glue) "What did the fossil look like?" (small, black)
"What actions did Holly take after she found the fossil?" (recorded findings on the meter squares in the field and on grid paper, planned to take the bone back to the lab to analyze)
"What happened in the beginning?" (Holly and her crew used shovels and pickaxes to re- move sediment so they could get to the bones.)"What happened in the middle?" (Holly saw a thin black line; she gently brushed away the mudstone to find a tiny Maiasaura femur) "What happened in the end?" (Holly recorded her findings and planned to take the bone back to the lab to analyze it more)
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"Can you put the learning target in your own words?" (I can tell what the character does in the text.) "How do you feel about the learning target?" (I feel excited to hear what the character does in this part of the text.)
"What does this sentence tell us?" (Responses will vary.) "Who is we in this sentence? How do you know?" (Holly and her crew; the story is about Holly, and previously, in paragraph 3 of this section, the story refers to her crew.) "What action did Holly and her crew take? How do you know?" (took out the sediment to show the bones; the story says they removed and uncovered) "Can you figure out why the author wrote the word Gently?" (The author uses it as an adverb to describe how they removed sediment and uncovered bones.) "What if we replace Gently with Quickly?" (Gently may suggest care and hesitation; Quickly may suggest excitement and confidence.) "Can you sketch the meaning of this sentence?" (Responses will vary.) "Why did the author include this sentence in her story?" (to describe one of the many actions that took place; to make the story more interesting and suspenseful) "Imagine you are a paleontologist. You and your crew are digging for bones in the hills and find an area with many bones! First, you remove the sediment and uncover the bones. Discuss with a partner what you do next using the frame ' , we .'" (ad- verb + we + action) |
B. Developing Language: Action Verbs (25 minutes)
"I can write a sentence to describe a paleontologist's action."
"Why is there a picture of a person digging next to the word 'actions'?" (Digging is an action that paleontologists do.)
"What actions do paleontologists take?" (Responses will vary, but may include: hammer, chip, excavate, brush, discover, pick, saw, chisel.)
"What sentence will you write about what you did today as a paleontologist?" (Responses will vary.)
"Read your sentence aloud to your partner." "Model the action in your sentence."
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Closing & Assessments
Closing | Meeting Students' Needs |
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A. Think-Pair-Share: Initiative and Perseverance (5 minutes)
"What does it mean to take initiative?" (to see what needs to be done and do it) "What does it mean to show perseverance?" (Challenge yourself; keep trying; ask for help when you need it.)
"How did Holly take initiative?" (She listened to Dr. Horner's suggestion, found Maiasaura bones, and used them to learn more about how they grew from babies to adults.) "How did Holly show perseverance?" (She kept searching for the tiny Maiasaura bones)
"Who can tell us what your classmate said in your own words?" (Responses will vary.)
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