Thematic Unit - Lesson Plan 2

Content Area: English & Animals

Grade Level: 4^th-5th

Language Level(s):

Nebraska English Language Proficiency Standards Addressed: ELP 4-5.1.L2

Nebraska State Content Standards Addressed: LA.4.F.3.b

LA.3.W.5.d

Topic of the Lesson & Rationale (Why is this important?): Students review their ABCs and make the connection between letters and names.                                         

Assets my MLs bring to the class: How I will make connections to their home languages and cultures, backgrounds and/or prior learning.

Students can explain the significance of their name and the background of their language. We can point out cognates with similar-sounding words that begin with the same letter.

Materials Needed: Remember to incorporate texts and materials that build on students’ culture and language to support and promote both language development and academic achievement.

• “Into the A, B, Sea” book by Deborah Lee Rose

• sentence frames 

• photos with name and animals

• same Letter & Animal anchor chart

• small whiteboard

Objectives(s)

Content Objective: SWBAT write one complete sentence, with the help of sentence frames, and justify their adjective to fit their personality with 100% completion.

Language Objective: SWBAT to identify an animal that starts with the same letter as their name, with the help of an anchor chart, giving a minimum of 2 examples.

Cultural Objective: SWBAT pronounce their name and explain how they like to be called and explain its significance to their culture.

Vocabulary 

• Echo read

• Adjectives

• Certain animals- narwhal, viperfish, anemones 

ESL Strategies Used: 

• Echo reading – saying slowly and in parts 

• Modeling – in the reading and sentences 

• Visual examples – letter name examples

• Anchor chart – ABC animals and adjectives

• Sentence starters 

• Highlighting terms 

• Think aloud 

Questions: (1-on-1)

• What's your favorite sea animal? For example, a penguin or fish. 

• What do you notice about my letter name? 

• What letter begins with starfish? 

• What’s the first letter of your name?

• How would you describe yourself? 

Anticipatory Set

I always ask how their week is going, any weekend plans, and how they're feeling. Sometimes have them stand and stretch depending on mood and moment. 

Introduce them to sea creatures and animals.

“Raise your hand if you’ve heard of the zoo. Who’s been to a zoo?” What’s an aquarium? 

• What’s your favorite sea creature or animal that lives in the ocean?

After students have shared, I will go over some of the vocabulary and animals seen in the book to introduce them to different animals. I will point out that each animal's name is capitalized to show the letter they start with. 

Explain our objectives and what we will be going over: read a book, create a sentence similar using our name and an animal that starts with the same letter. 

Beginning of Lesson: I Do/We Do

State the book title and have students turn and talk about what animal they see on the front cover. 

Depending the level in reading, I can read-aloud, echo-read, or students read on their own. If we echo-read (for level 2), they repeat after me throughout the entire book. 

Stop throughout the book to ask questions and make connections with the letters and rhyming. Some fun images can be pointed out about the animals, like the weird umbrellamouth. Also, point out adjectives that they may not know and explain, like slumber, which means sleep. 

Once finished, ask if they had a favorite animal shown or if one was interesting. This can also be a time to look at real images of the animals and show the students if they’re really intrigued, or have them point out other animals that are similar they’ve seen.  

Middle of Lesson: You Do It Together 

1. Point out all the letters and their similarity to the animals. I will give 4 examples of names and animals that start with the same letter, with an image also provided.

   1. Luis = Lion

   2. Same letter “L” will be highlighted 

2. The student will then choose an animal that starts with their letter name after identifying it. 

   1. An anchor chart of the ABC letters and animals will be provided withimages 

   2. We will think aloud together animals that start with their letter name. You can look up animals that have that letter with images for students to have options. 

   3.  

3. After choosing their animal, we will move on to writing a sentence comparing their name and the animal. I will model the sentence frame and what it looks like having the name first, adding an adjective and your chosen animal at the end.  

   1. (Name) is as (adjective) as a (animal). OR (Name) is/can (adjective) like a (animal).

   2. Gigi is as tall as a giraffe. 

4. I will model using both sentence frame ideas and how to figure out an adjective. I will ask them to describe their chosen animal: are they short or tall? How would they feel? What can they do? – fly, run, jump.

   

We will then work together, and I will first fill in the sentence frame on the whiteboard. 

End of the Lesson: You Do It Alone 

The student will then copy and write their complete sentence in their journal. If a level 1, I will write their chosen words for them to copy; if intermediate, they can sound them out and work on their own with observation. They will then read it aloud when finished. 

Assessment Statement:

• Student is able to identify the first letter of their name (formative)

• Student is able to sound out letters when reading (formative)

• Can describe their animal as an adjective (summative)

• Can point out the similarities in the beginning letter names (summative)

• Student is able to fill in the sentence frame to completion (formative)

Closure: 

Praise them for all their work. Good job in writing their sentence and reviewing their ABCs with some fun animal names. Next time, we will describe our animals using  adjectives and create a story.