Lesson Plan

 

Name:    Jessica Bartley      Date :    14 April 2005      Age/Grade Level:   5th grade__

 

Subject:       Reading/Social Studies               # of Students:       20       # of IEP Students: __5___     

  

Major content:__Reading Comprehension/ History of WWII and the Holocaust through a novel

 

Unit Title:    Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry____

 

 

ACTIONS

 

Goals and Objectives-

 

The goal of this lesson is for students to read and comprehend the themes, vocabulary, and history included in the book Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry.  This lesson hopes to improve the vocabulary of the student, the ability of the student to understand complex themes through plot and character development, to understand character traits, and to apply the literature to the history of WWII and the Holocaust.  Questions to address include:  What is the plot of the novel?  What message was the author trying to convey when she wrote this book?  What is the history of the Holocaust? What is the historical context surrounding the main character?  What character traits does the main character have?  Which traits do you admire in her?   

 

Connections-

 

RD-M-x.0.9

Reflect on and evaluate what is read

Students will be required to read passages of Number the Stars both in class and at home for homework.  Through reading the material, the student must reflect on and evaluate what they have read in order to understand the novel and complete the assessments.  The assessments will be designed in a way that their reflections and evaluations can be stated to conclude that they comprehended and then reflected on the passages after they read them.

RD-M-x.0.10

Connect information from a passage to students’ lives and/or real world issues

Number the Stars includes real world issues of discrimination and war.  Both of these issues can be applied to students’ lives and/or real world issues.

RD-M-1.0.12

Identify characteristics of short stories, novels, poetry, and plays.

Number the Stars is a novel, therefore, students will be taught the characteristics of a novel such as rising action, plot, setting, and character development.

RD-M-1.0.13

Describe literary elements (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme, point of view) in a passage.

This novel addresses characterization, setting, plot, theme, and point of view.  Each of these topics will be addressed by the teacher and then assessed once the novel has been finished.

RD-M-2.0.13

Identify supporting details and explain their importance in a passage.

Supporting details are very important in Number the Stars because they are critical to the progress of the plot.  Students will be assessed on their reading comprehension and the ability to retain supporting details after reading a passage through reading quizzes.  Quizzes will be discussed after they are graded and returned, at which point the teacher will go over the details and discuss with the class their importance to the passage.

SS-E-2.4.1

As cultures emerge and develop, conflict and competition (e.g., disagreements, arguments, stereotypes, prejudice) may occur.

Studying Number the Stars will raise important issues about conflict among people of different religion and ethnicity.  Discussion will be vital to help students understand stereotypes and prejudice specifically between the Nazi Party and the Jews and then continue to relate these historical events with modern day discrimination.

 

Context-

 

The objectives clearly address the goals for the lesson.  After reading Number the Stars, the students should have a greater appreciation for reading and literature because they will have read and been assessed on their reading comprehension, relating the material read to real historical issues, and relating these historical issues to their everyday lives.  The major focus of the unit to which this lesson belongs is literature and relating fictional stories to real life history.  The lesson relates directly to the unit because the lesson focuses solely on understanding the novel Number the Stars, and the unit covers the novel and the literary and historical issues which arise from its pages.  There are several social, cultural, and global concerns which will be addressed in this lesson because the novel focuses on an event which occurs during the Holocaust.  The Holocaust was certainly a very historical issue which addresses relationships among people, prejudice, cultural differences, and personal differences.  Because this novel is about a girl from Denmark who is affected by the policies of a different country and is helped yet by others from another country trying to flee from a war fought on a global level, this unit most certainly addresses international issues which can be discussed among the teacher and students.

 

Resources-

 

Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry : for students to read

 

Computer with projector for power point presentation in order to display notes about vocabulary, characters, characteristics of a novel, etc.

 

Computers for students to use for web quests

 

Procedures-

 

A curriculum page is included in this lesson plan in which several assignments are included to help the student absorb and understand the material.  An assessment of what the students have learned will be implemented through short presentations, worksheets, reading quizzes, and vocabulary quizzes which will assess whether or not the objectives have been met.  In order to meet the diversity of my classroom, it will be necessary to meet all the needs of each student and their different learning styles.  Assessment through writing, objective questions, and on-hands project/researching should give students with diverse learning styles appropriate advantage over learning the material.  Other students who have special needs can be met on an individual basis.  For example, students who have difficulty reading will be given a tape to listen to as they read along.  Students with vision problems will also be given a tape to listen to, or a book with large print.

 

Student Assessment-

 

An assessment page is also included with this lesson plan.  An assessment will be made in three different ways.  A final presentation by groups of students, a written assignment, and an objective test on context from the novel.  Each assessment will give students a chance to show what they know in three different ways.  Other small assignments included on the curriculum page will also be assessed for participation and completion.  Daily reading quizzes and a final vocabulary quiz will assess students’ comprehension of the novel after class discussion and review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFINEMENT- Prepared after the lesson and the post observation conference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPACT—Prepared after the lesson and post-observation conference

 

 

 

Reflection/Analysis of Teaching and Learning-

 

 

Discuss student progress in relation to the sated objectives (i.e., what they learning with indicators of achievement.)  Discuss success of instruction as it relates to assessment of student progress.  Include three student samples (high, average, low) and an analysis of their performance based on assessment results.

 

 

 

REFINEMENTPrepared after the lesson and post-observation conference

 

 

Lesson Extension/Follow up: 

 

 

Based on your reflection, discuss plans for subsequent lessons to reinforce and extend understanding particularly for students who did not make satisfactory progress.

 

 

Note:  All three sections (ACTION,  IMPACT AND REFINEMENT) should be included in your portfolio for review by each committee member.

 

 

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