Creation of a Lesson Plan

¶ … lesson plan, which deals with aspects like value of play activities and developmental implementations in a chosen teacher-directed classroom task. Tailoring of lessons to meet individual student's needs in keeping with developmentally-suitable practices will also be addressed.

Grade Level: 5th

Art, Language Arts, Science

Ashley

Activity Name: Word Play Fun/Teacher-Directed

Learning Domain/Educational Standards

Grade 5:

110.15.b English Language Arts & Reading Knowledge & Skills (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Comprehension/Reading of Sensory Language/Literary Text.

Students grasp, arrive at conclusions, and make deductions regarding the way in which sensory language of an author constructs imagery in texts by offering textual evidence to substantiate understanding. They are required to recognize the application of metaphors and similes, by the author, for creating imagery.

Writing/Writing Process.

Students make use of writing elements (conception, outlining, revision, proofreading, and publishing) for composing text.

16) Writing/Literary Texts.

Students compose literary texts for conveying their thoughts and notions regarding real or hypothetical ideas, persons, and phenomena.

Ethical Issues Addressed There are no ethical facets that require addressing in this activity (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Objectives

Pupils take turns in collective reading of chapters on an everyday basis, at school. They pursue the broad storyline, while also taking note of the figures of speech they enjoyed most in the entire story.

Students individually understand the distinction between 6 figures of speech, namely: alliteration, metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole and puns.

The teacher wants them to bear the learnt word-play devices along with specific examples in mind, all through the course of their education (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Preparation/Materials

Computers, blank CDs, or printers for all students; stationery like pens, pencils, ruled paper, color pencils, notebooks, journals, one copy of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles borrowed from a library, one copy each of The Hamster of the Baskervilles, teacher-created laminated category cards (for the 6 figures of speech along with their definitions at the rear side), teacher-developed Web Quest of 10 queries dealing with Hound of the Baskervilles, a curriculum page prepared by the teacher (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Other Resources

All students will get to access a curriculum webpage created by the teacher, and suited to the class's grade level and teacher goals (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Procedure The teacher shows students Hale's 'The Hamster of the Baskervilles', and asks them to guess the book's author.

Then, the teacher reads chapter 1 and arrives at the central character's name: the chameleon, the Chet Gecko. She raises questions with regard to the reason behind the chameleon's name and finally, a guess at his occupation.

Teachable juncture is reached:

The teacher uses the laminated cards for introducing the six figures of speech to the class, and asks them to guess the meaning of each.

It must be borne in mind that no answer is incorrect; the children are only guessing.

After explaining each figure of speech, the class will pore over the story and hit upon examples of the 6 recently-learned wordplay forms. The writing center holds the cards; students who forget what any specific wordplay form means can peruse it here (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Individual Pupils Evaluate And Choose Any Two Creative Exercises (Which Are Graded Unless Stated Otherwise):

Children read and explore the book, websites and video/audio resources to gain and note down information on real hamsters, their traits, homes, and behavior. Subsequently, they compose 3-5 paragraphs by incorporating a good introduction, and logical conclusion into their composition.

Students complete the Web Quest on 'Hound of the Baskervilles' prepared by the teacher (with 10 queries), and discover two figures of speech employed in the book. Curriculum page, or the book's copy (borrowed from a library), are consulted for finding the right answers.

Every individual student, in his/her own words, explains the job of a real detective, and itemizes traits that must be present in a good private investigator. They must convey and validate their opinion on whether a real detective needs to devote loads of time to investigation and recording findings; whether their key task is sitting in cars and looking out for crooks; or walk the streets, seeking clients; or employing wiretaps for clue-finding? (There will be no grading for this activity, as it is based on preconceived notions).

Students learn the features of buzzards and other raptors. The teacher may ask them what they think about buzzards' breath, etc. Students then draw a picture of any raptor of their choice.

They design and name a disintegrating, dirty stinker tattoo (The Hamster, page 36), which may be black-and-white or in color.

Students browse the web to unearth information regarding any animal among the following: chameleon, gecko, tarantula, turtle, frog, mouse, rat, tree frog (story character- Popper), ferret, beaver, poison dart frog, mole, or dog (story character- RynneTintin). Students then either compose a poem on the animal selected or illustrate their chosen animal and explain the reason for it being their preferred pet.

Finally, they complete a 'fill-in-the-blanks' paper on 'Hound of the Baskervilles'.

Evaluation

The teacher checks notebooks and response journals of students every day, making sure that every child knows how to make connections using the six figures of speech.

The teacher marks illustrations (i.e. essay, drawing, song, poem, joke book, news announcement and advertisement) and original writings of students.

Independent student practice exercises are graded.

Those who referred to the Curriculum Page are awarded additional participation points (Word Play Fun ... Not Your Ordinary Literary Masterpiece, n.d.)

Remediation for Children with Special Needs:

Several students suffer from learning disabilities (LD) and require certain support because of the poor reading skills that characterize their disability. Pupils facing challenges or having special needs will, in this particular lesson, be provided with another exclusive passage to aid with comprehension, rather than having them study Doyle's book (Writer Thoughts, n.d.), thus enabling them to better manage reading (to some extent, like the class's independent readers).

Computers/laptops can help LD students to make notes (Assistive Technology for Students with Mild Disabilities - TeacherVision.com, n.d.). Portable keyboards constitute an economical substitute to PCs. However, they are characterized by some limitations in the form of limited screen display (4 text lines) and information formatting. As only a small number of students will find it hard to jot down notes by hand, and would display improved functioning via assistive technology, laptops will be offered to them for use during class work.

Classrooms are now filling up with technological tools -- technology is at the teachers' disposal for creating, monitoring, and delivering instructions, and at the students' disposal for accessing and engaging in learning. Assistive technology enables students with LD to be at par with peers, and in note-taking (Writer Thoughts, n.d.). The use of another, easier-to-understand passage will help LD students meet the same classroom goals as independent students. Thus, development level can be attained.

Materials/Resources:

Laptop

Teacher-provided Select Passage

Remediation for ESL Children (English as Second Language):

English Language Learners (ELLs), when posed a question, will often translate it first to their native tongue/first language, compose a reply in the native tongue, and then retranslate to English, before replying to the teacher. Thus, their response time is longer than English-speaking students (Adaptations for English Learners, n.d.). ESL students, in this lesson, will be accorded extra time for writing activities. Further, teachers will use individual ESLs' first language (if teachers know how to speak it) for clarifying instructions.