Close reading of informational text with parental involvement

3

School-wide Literacy Lesson Plan School-wide Literacy Need: A comprehensive, coordinated framework for the involvement of various stakeholders in promoting student achievement. Lesson Title: Close Reading of Informational Text. Overview: Students will be provided with informational passages that they will be required to read in the classroom and while at home. They will be required to seek for help from their parents or guardians to comprehend the informational text. They will then be required to answer text-based questions regarding the informational passages and write a short essay of what they have learned. Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3 Objectives/Learning Outcomes: First, students will be able to demonstrate comprehension of reading material through answering text-based questions and writing short essays. Secondly, students will enhance their reading and literacy skills through close reading strategies and working with their parents. Materials, Resources and Technology: The informational passage that students will be provided with is a copy of Explore Tornadoes, which is a non-fiction piece of text. PowerPoint presentations will be used by the teacher to introduce the lesson. Student journals will be required for students to write down some of the ideas from the passage as they read it. A worksheet for parents to help students in comprehending the informational passages will also be used to achieve the purpose of the lesson. Instructional Procedures: The following instructional procedures will be used for this lesson: 1. The teacher will use a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the lesson before providing students with a copy of Explore Tornadoes that they will each read aloud individually. 2. They will be divided into different groups of comprising five students, which will act as literacy teams (Cobb, 2005). Each student will then be required to read certain portions of the passage. 3. Students will then write down some of the ideas from the passage and discuss them in the group. 4. Students will be provided with a worksheet for parents to complete as they assist them (students) to comprehend the informational text (Thomas, 2016). 5. Students will then answer text-based questions regarding the informational passage. Student Groupings: As previously indicated, students will be divided into small groups of five students. For a classroom of 30 students, the classroom layout will include six groups comprising five students each. Presentation: Students will present their project through completing short essays, completed parent worksheet, and student journals. Their success will be celebrated through classroom recognition and awards for the best performances. Assessment/Evaluation: Formative assessment will be used to evaluate student performance and literacy skills. This will involve marking the essays and evaluating information in the student journal. Students’ performance will be based on their comprehension of the informational passage and parental involvement in their literacy development. Feedback will be provided to students through grading of their essays. Closure/Teacher Reflection: This lesson will provide a suitable opportunity for enhancing student literacy skills through involving their parents in literacy development. It will help ensure that various stakeholders i.e. parents are involved in developing their children’s literacy skills and enhancing their achievement. References Cobb, C. (2005, February). Literacy Teams: Sharing Leadership to Improve Student Learning. The Reading Teacher, 58(5), 472-474. Thomas, J. (2016). Presenting a United Front: Parental Involvement Facilitating Children’s Literacy Development. Journal of Initial Teacher Inquiry, 2, 17-20.