Reading and Writing: Group Research: Birds (Scholastic Discover More), Pages 18–19 | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA G1:M3:U1:L7

Reading and Writing: Group Research: Birds (Scholastic Discover More), Pages 18–19

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • RI.1.2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
  • RI.1.3: Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
  • RI.1.5: Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.
  • RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
  • W.1.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
  • SL.1.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • SL.1.1a: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • SL.1.2: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
  • L.1.1f: Use frequently occurring adjectives.
  • L.1.5d: Distinguish shades of meaning among verbs differing in manner (e.g., look, peek, glance, stare, glare, scowl) and adjectives differing in intensity (e.g., large, gigantic) by defining or choosing them or by acting out the meanings.

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can read and discuss information about bird feet using the text Birds (Scholastic Discover More). (RI.1.2, RI.1.3, RI.1.5, RI.1.7, SL.1.1, SL.1.1a, SL.1.2)
  • I can create and label an observational drawing of a bald eagle. (W.1.8, L.1.1f, L1.5d)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During the Opening, use the Language Checklist to gather data on students' progress toward L.1.1f and L.1.5d.
  • Continue to use the Reading Informational Text Checklist during the reading aloud to research in Work Time B to track students' progress toward RI.1.5, RI.1.3, RI.1.2, RI.1.7, and RI.1.9 (see Assessment Overview and Resources).
  • Continue to gather data in Work Time C on students' progress toward W.1.8, L.1.1f, and L.1.5d as you observe them draw, label, and write using descriptive adjectives.

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Poem and Movement: "Wandering through the Zoo" Poem (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Engaging the Researcher: Mallard Duck Feet Observation (5 minutes)

B. Reading Aloud to Research Bird Feet: Birds (Scholastic Discover More), Pages 18-19 (20 minutes)

C. Independent Writing: Birds Research Notebook (15 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Working to Become Ethical People: Empathy (10 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • Work Times A, B, and C contain repeated routines from Lessons 3-6. Refer to those lessons for more detail, as necessary. In Lesson 8, students will work independently to read and answer questions about a new type of bird to complete the Unit 1 Assessment.
  • find information about a new kind of bird in the text
  • In the Opening, students continue to work with shades of meaning of adjectives by choosing adjectives to place into a new poem. Students will complete their task as a class in this lesson but will gradually be released to complete the task independently in future lessons. Use the Language Standards Checklist to collect data on students for L1.1f and the second half of L1.5d. The standard L1.5d will be revisited in Unit 2 for a more formal assessment.
  • In the Closing, students apply their new understanding of how to show empathy by sharing their work and giving kind, specific, and helpful feedback.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • The Opening builds on the work the class has done with shades of meaning among adjectives by asking students to apply their understanding in order to write a new poem.
  • In Lesson 6, students worked together to answer questions about the text. During Work Time B, students will experience more release in this lesson as they independently answer questions about the text in preparation for the unit assessment.
  • Students apply their understanding of empathy by giving and receiving feedback.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • In Work Time A, students may need help answering questions about mallard ducks. Encourage them to use the information from the book as well as their experience to help them answer questions.
  • Refer to the supports suggested in Lessons 3-6 for Work Times B and C.
  • Students may need help in the Closing with giving kind, specific, and helpful feedback. Consider modeling an example or conferencing with students about feedback they could offer.

Down the road:

  • Students complete the Unit 1 Assessment in Lesson 8.
  • In this lesson, students write a new poem together. In Lessons 8-9, students will work in pairs and then individually to provide data on their understanding around adjectives and shades of meaning.

In Advance

  • Pre-distribute Materials for Work Times B and C at student workspaces.
  • Prepare the bald eagle and mallard duck feet photographs in color, if possible.
  • Post: Learning targets, "Wandering through the Zoo" poem, and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).
  • Preview the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the questions and goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting Materials). Select from the questions and goals provided to best meet your students' needs.

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 and 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 1.I.B.6, 1.II.A.1, 1.II.A.2, 1.I.C.10, 1.I.A.1, 1.I.A.3, 1.II.B.4, and 1.I.B.8

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs through opportunities to practice writing complete sentences and answering text-dependent questions as a class to prepare them for the Unit 1 Assessment.
  • ELLs may find answering short answer response questions challenging, because the wording of the questions and abundance of language can pose additional processing demands. (Question 1 on the Fantastic Feet response sheet includes challenging phrasing, for example.) Refer to "Levels of support" and the Meeting Students' Needs column for details.
  • In Work Time A, ELLs may participate in an optional Language Dive that guides them through the meaning of a sentence from Birds (Scholastic Discover More). This Language Dive focuses on using adjectives to address the Daily Learning Target by inviting students to read and find information about bird feet, CCSS L1.1f, and connects to the guiding question. Preview the Language Dive Guide and consider how to invite conversation among students to address the questions and goals suggested under each sentence strip chunk (see supporting Materials). Select from the questions and goals provided to best meet your students' needs.

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • During Work Time B, provide time for students to put the selected response question in their own words with a partner before looking at the answer choices. This will focus students on understanding the question before they try to respond.

For heavier support:

  • Consider gradual release in approaching the selected response question. Before they look at the answer choices, take time to help students deconstruct the questions.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): In this lesson, students listen to the poem "Wandering through the Zoo." Some students may benefit from having an individual copy of the poem to follow along in near-point as it is read aloud. Support transfer of learning by offering multiple representations of the poem. Consider providing an annotated or illustrated copy of the poem for students to support information processing, strategy development, and comprehension.
  • Multiple Means of Action & Expression (MMAE): Support students' ability to appropriately express knowledge about the content by varying the options for composition and communication. Match students' abilities and the demands of the independent writing task by offering alternatives for students to articulate their observations of birds. (Example: Offer partial or full dictation as students verbally share their learning about bird feet.)
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): During independent writing, some students may need examples of how to problem-solve when they want to write a word with tricky spelling. Emphasize sustained effort and process by modeling how to sound out a word with tricky spelling and demonstrate how to use environmental print to support spelling accuracy.

Vocabulary

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

New:

  • webbed (T)

Materials

  • "Wandering through the Zoo" (one to display; for teacher read-aloud)
  • "Wandering through the Zoo" (answers, for teacher reference)
  • Peacock photograph (from Lesson 6; one to display)
  • Adjectives Shades of Meaning, Version 2 anchor chart (begun in Lesson 6)
  • Bald eagle photograph (one to display)
  • Mallard duck feet photograph (one to display)
  • Birds (Scholastic Discover More) (one to display for teacher read-aloud, and one per pair)
  • Physical Characteristics of Birds anchor chart (begun in Lesson 4; added to during Work Time B; see supporting Materials)
  • Physical Characteristics of Birds anchor chart (example, for teacher reference)
  • Fantastic Feet response sheet (one per student and one to display)
  • Fantastic Feet response sheet (answers, for teacher reference)
  • Bird Experiences anchor chart (begun in Lesson 1; added to during Work Time C)
  • Birds Research notebook (from Lesson 2; page 6; one per student)
  • Birds Research notebook (from Lesson 2; answers, for teacher reference)
  • Language Dive Guide II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More) (optional; for ELLs; for teacher reference)
    • Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart (begun in Lesson 3)
    • Language Dive Chunk Chart II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More) (optional; for ELLs; for teacher reference)
    • Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More) (optional; for ELLs; one to display)
    • Language Dive Note-catcher II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More) (optional; for ELLs; one per student and one to display)
  • Empathy anchor chart (begun in Lesson 3)

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: "Wandering through the Zoo" Poem (10 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Display "Wandering through the Zoo."
  • Tell students that you will need their help to complete this poem.
  • Remind students that they have learned about adjectives with different levels of strength and that it is their job to determine two similar adjectives with different strength levels.
  • Read the poem aloud, using the echo reading technique from Lessons 2-5.
  • Stop at the first blank in the poem.
  • Display the peacock photograph and the Adjectives Shades of Meaning, Version 2 anchor chart.
  • Turn and Talk:

"Look at the picture of the peacock. What adjective would you use to describe its colors?" (rich, vibrant, colorful)

  • If productive, cue students to agree or disagree and explain why:

"Do you agree or disagree with what your classmate said? Why? I'll give you time to think."

  • Circulate to listen in as students discuss.
  • Invite a few pairs to share out. Encourage pairs to offer an adjective for both blanks in the same stanza. Note which students still need extra support with choosing two adjectives with similar meanings. Refer to "Wandering through the Zoo" (answers, for teacher reference).
  • Choose two adjectives (rich, vibrant) and write them onto the displayed version of the poem.
  • Repeat this process for the second stanza using the bald eagle photograph.
  • If time permits, invite students to stand in place and reread the completed portion of the poem.
  • For ELLs: (Contrasting Vocabulary) Some students might confuse the words wondering and wandering. Consider writing both on the board, before reading "Wandering through the Zoo," and clarifying their spelling and meaning.
  • For students who may need additional support with expressive skills: Before reading the poem, offer index cards preprinted with adjectives to select as students participate in selecting missing words. (MMAE)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Engaging the Researcher: Mallard Duck Feet Observation (5 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Share that the eagle feet that students just looked at are much different from a mallard duck's feet.
  • Tell students they will now get a chance to closely examine a photograph of a mallard duck's feet. This will help them learn more about the physical characteristics of ducks.
  • Display the mallard duck feet photograph and using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What shape are the feet?" (like paddle feet, flat)

"How do you think the mallard duck uses its feet in the water?" (to help the duck swim)

  • Confirm students' thinking by pointing to the feet in the photograph and saying: "The mallard duck has webbed feet."
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What are webbed feet?" (feet that have toes connected like a web)

  • Tell students that webbed feet have toes that are connected by folds of skin.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

 "How do the webbed feet help the mallard duck?" (They help the duck swim.)

  • Tell students that they will continue to research about other types and specific jobs of bird feet.
  • For ELLs: (Multiple Meaning Words) Consider discussing multiple meanings of the word fold. Explain that fold means folds of skin (noun) but that it also refers to how a duck's foot folds when the foot is brought forward through the water and then stretches to push against the water on the backward stroke.
  • For students who may need additional support with auditory perception: Offer alternatives for auditory information by providing discussion questions visually on the board or chart paper. (MMR)

B. Reading Aloud to Research Bird Feet: Birds (Scholastic Discover More), Pages 18-19 (20 minutes)

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

"I can read and discuss information about bird feet using the text Birds (Scholastic Discover More)."

  • Tell students that now they will continue to research about bird feet in Birds (Scholastic Discover More). Point out that this is one more physical characteristic of birds.
  • Display pages 18-19 and ask:

"Point to the heading on this page." (fantastic feet)

"How do you know it's the heading?" (The letters are bigger, and it is bolded and at the top of the page.)

  • Display and read pages 18-19 aloud fluently and with expression, including the labels and captions.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What are the photographs showing us?" (birds with different types of feet)

  • If productive, cue students to explain why a classmate came up with a particular response:

"Who can explain why your classmate came up with that response?" (Responses will vary.)

"What are the captions under the different feet on page 18 telling us?" (They describe the different types of bird feet.)

"What part of these photographs are we supposed to pay the most attention to? How do you know?" (the feet; the heading tells us and the photographs clearly show the feet)

  • Direct students' attention to the Physical Characteristics of Birds anchor chart and briefly review it.
  • Follow the same routine from Work Time B of Lesson 4 to guide students through considering their research question and adding their learning to the Physical Characteristics of Birds anchor chart. Refer to Physical Characteristics of Birds anchor chart (example, for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Refocus whole group and display the Fantastic Feet response sheet.
  • Remind students that in the previous lesson they worked together as a class to answer questions about feathers using evidence from the text on a response sheet just like this one.
  • Tell them that they should continue to share the text with their book buddy, but they will answer these new questions on their own without talking to their book buddy.
  • Dismiss students to their workspaces and ensure each pair has their text.
  • Distribute the Fantastic Feet response sheet.
  • Focus students on the directions at the top of the page and read them aloud.
  • Ask:

"What text features might you use to help answer the questions?" (photographs, captions, headings)

Tell students that you will read each question aloud and then give them time to answer it before moving on to the next question.

  • Direct students' attention to Question 1 on the Fantastic Feet response sheet and read the question aloud:
    • "Listen to me read the captions under the illustrations on page 18. What are examples of different kinds of bird feet?"
  • Give students time to answer the question. Circulate to support them as necessary. Refer to Fantastic Feet response sheet (answers, for teacher reference) if needed.
  • Repeat this process with Question 2. Tell students that when answering this question, they should circle the definition that is most accurate.  Read the choices aloud:
    • "Sitting"
    • "Sitting on a twig or branch"
    • "Climbing on a branch"
  • Circulate and support students as they answer. Encourage them to use the text that they are sharing with their book buddy.
  • Refocus whole group and give students specific, positive feedback on their ability to look closely at the text and think about the question before answering it.
  • Collect students' response sheet and tell them that in the next lesson they will work to answer questions independently on the Unit 1 Assessment.
  • For ELLs: (Multiple Meaning Words) Consider discussing multiple meanings of the word neat. Ask:

"What is the meaning of the word neat in this sentence?" (interesting, cool)

"How can you tell?" (It says in the sentence before that wings are cool, and then the next sentence says birds have neat feet, too.)

"What are other meanings of neat?" (tidy, organized)

  • For ELLs: (Repeating Instructions) Repeat the instructions for students who would benefit from hearing them multiple times.
  • For ELLs: (Strategic Grouping: Similar Proficiency) To encourage students to develop independence and take responsibility for their learning, create groups with similar levels of language proficiency. This can allow more accurate data on ELLs' progress.
  • Continue to provide white boards and dry-erase markers as an option for students to record (in drawing or writing) their ideas. This helps scaffold active listening for key details. (MMR, MMAE)
  • For students who may need additional support with comprehension: Include a quick sketch to accompany each physical characteristic of birds on the anchor chart. (MMR)

C. Independent Writing: Birds Research Notebook (15 minutes)

  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:

"I can create and label an observational drawing of a bald eagle."

  • Display the bald eagle photograph.
  • Follow the same routine from Work Time A of Lesson 1 to ask students what they think about bald eagles and if anyone they know has had experiences with them and to capture their thinking on the Bird Experiences anchor chart.
  • Display page 6 of the Birds Research notebook and follow the routine from Work Time C of Lesson 3 to guide students through observing and creating an observational drawing of a bald eagle. Refer to Birds research notebook (answers, for teacher reference) as necessary. Note: As in Lesson 6, students add a sentence and caption to their observational drawing.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with strategy development: (Modeling and Thinking Aloud: Drawing) Display the bald eagle photograph and point to the shapes and body parts while thinking aloud to model how to complete the observational drawing. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Prompting Adding More to Their Writing) While circulating, support students in writing complete sentences by prompting them to reflect on their work.
  • For ELLs: During or after Work Time C, guide students through a Language Dive. Refer to Language Dive Guide II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More), Questions We Can Ask during a Language Dive anchor chart, and Language Dive Chunk Chart II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More). Distribute and display Language Dive Sentence Strip Chunks II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More) and Language Dive Note-catcher II: Birds (Scholastic Discover More).
  • For students who may need additional support with self-regulation: When giving students a warning before the transition, continue to provide a clear routine for what to do with unfinished work and use a timer. (MME)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Working to Become Ethical People: Empathy (10 minutes)

  • Display the Empathy anchor chart.
  • Follow the same routine from the Closing of Lesson 6 to guide students through sharing their work and giving and receiving kind, specific, and helpful feedback.
  • Tell students that continuing to think about and practice how to show empathy will help them as they share more of their work in the following lesson.
  • Collect students' notebooks.
  • For ELLs: (Celebrating Learning) Consider giving feedback on what an ELL did well. This will help the student build his or her self-confidence and to identify and repeat that success next time.

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