Connect (What and Why)
Name: Elizabeth Chamberlain (creator of original lesson plan) & Myranda Stray
Grade Level:5th Grade
Unit of Study:Research Based Argument Essay Writing
Teaching Point:Making choices about how an argument will be publishedand how it will be delivered to the audience, paying special attention to grammar and punctuation.
CCSS Standard(s):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Rationale (include data-driven evidence): How we present our arguments to our audience is important because we want to make sure that the format of our work, the grammar, our writer’s voice, spelling, and punctuation are all appropriate, based on the message we are trying to get across to our readers.
Specific strategies and rationale for engaging diverse language learners (who? what? why?)(Identify at least one SIOP feature for each stage of the mini-lesson)
Connect/PURPOSE (What, Why, When) (1-2 minutes)
“Hello, writers! I have something to share with you today. I decided to write a letter to my great-grandma Ina. She is 103 years old and will be turning 104 in May. I love my grandma and want to send this letter to her to show her I care a lot about her.”
“I just don’t know how I should present the letter to her. Here-I have some copies of my letter to my grandma. I would like each of you to look over my letters and let me know which one you think I should send to her. (Will show one letter in a “thank you” note, one on printer paper typed up, one handwritten on a piece of notebook paper, and one on a notecard.) How do you think my grandma would like to receive this note? Which of these formats would be best to get my message across to her? Remember, one of the class agreements we came up with is “It’s okay to make mistakes”-there are no right or wrong answers here. (Give time for students to share their ideas.)”
“Let’s list our ideas about these formats. (Jot down notes based on student comments on piece of chart paper.) As writers, we have a choice about how we want to present ourselves. The way we present ourselves can come across through the format of our writing, the presentation of it, and the delivery of our writing. This all affects the way our audience receives the work we present to them.”
“Let’s make sure to think about this when we work on our own writing today. Your writing today can be done in the format of your choice. I have colored paper for you to use. You also have your notebooks and printer paper. Tell one person next to you how you will be presenting your work to your intended audience.” / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through using a variety of techniques to make content concepts clear through modeling, visuals, demonstrations, gestures, and body language (SIOP 12) while I am speaking to them about my example of my written letter to my grandma. I will also clearly write content objectives for my students to reference during the lesson (SIOP 1).
SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through explicitly identifying supplementary materials for them to use during this portion of the lesson (SIOP 4), for example: colored paper, notebooks, printer paper, notecards, etc.
Model/Demonstrate/Teach/Provide Information (How) (3-5 min.)
“Before I send you off to put your own work into the format you think is most appropriate for your audience, I would like to discuss my letter to my grandma. Personally, I think that my grandmother would respond best to the “thank you” card. So, I want to rewrite my message onto a new card, thinking also about the way that I wrote this first letter to her in the “thank you” note.”
“What is one thing you might change about the way I originally wrote my note to my grandmother? Looking at my writing now, I think I may have made a few errors in my spelling and punctuation. I also see some grammar I might want to work on. By changing these aspects of my note, I think I can really get my message to my grandma across better.”
“I’m looking at my note and I think I will mark on the original one with my corrections so that my new draft will be nicer, cleaner looking and more accurate. What do you suggest for how I might make this letter to my grandma better? Do you see any errors that you might recommend changing so that I can make my letter more professional looking?” (I will circle the errors in green highlighter and correct them in a different color of pen.) / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through using speech appropriate to students’ proficiency level (SIOP 10) when I speak, as well as explain academic tasks to my students clearly (SIOP 11),and using scaffolding techniques consistently (SIOP 14) (for example, marking up my own work to demonstrate how students should go about editing their own.
Engage/Guided Practice (2-3 minutes)
“I would like to look to your own pieces of writing now. I am going to give you a couple of minutes to look at your writing and decide which format is best suited to the work you are doing. Then, I would like you to go back over your work and double (and triple) check for any spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors you might have. Remember, even though I thought my letter was ready, I discovered that I still had some errors in my writing that I needed to fix before putting my final product on paper.”
“Look over your own writing now. Talk to a neighbor if you encounter some aspect of your writing that you are unsure about or think you might be able to change to make it better, but maybe don’t know how. If you still need help, raise your hand and Ms. Fisher or I will try to help you to work through your question. Remember, as writers, we collaborate and help each other to make our writing better.” / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through providing ample opportunities for my students to use the strategies I introduced to them (SIOP 13), as well as providing frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion between students and their peers about lesson concepts (SIOP 16) through turn-and-talk discussions.
Link to Independent Work (1-2 minutes)
“Now that you have had a chance to proof your work again for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors before recreating your draft in a different form, I am going to release you to do your independent work. As I mentioned earlier, I have different materials available for you to use in order to redraft your work in a format that is most appropriate to the writing you have been doing.”
“After you have finished correcting any errors in your latest draft and rewriting your work onto a separate sheet of paper, I would like you to think about how the way you wrote out your piece and chose to present it will affect the way that your work is received by your target audience. We will talk about this when we come back together later as a group.” / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through explaining academic tasks clearly (SIOP 11) and supporting content objectives clearly (SIOP 23) through making connections back to the learning target in my dialogue with students.
Independent work(30 minutes)
Students will work on their writing independently at their seats. My teaching partner and I will circulate through the group and help any students that need extra assistance. We will be conferencing with students at this time and asking them about their work and how they intend to improve upon their work in producing a new draft in the format of their choice. / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through explicitly (verbally) liking past learning and new concepts (SIOP 8), providing hands-on materials for students to practice using new content knowledge (SIOP 20), and providing feedback to students regularly on their output (SIOP 29) through conferencing.
Sharing (10 minutes)
“Writers, it is amazing to see how much your work has grown just since the last time we met! Your arguments have become so much more powerful. You have begun to provide really strong reasons and evidence to help support your statements. I would like you to reflect on how much your work has improved just since the first time you wrote your thoughts down about chocolate milk in schools.”
“After looking over the work you have done so far, I would like you to turn to a partner now and tell them something you are very proud of about this piece of writing. After that discussion, if you find that your piece of writing is missing something (some aspect of the research-based argument essay you may not have included), ask your partner to show you their work (specifically, the piece you might be missing), and think about how you might include something similar in your own writing.” / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through conducting a verbal assessment of student’s comprehension and learning throughout the lesson and all lesson objectives (SIOP 30).
Close (1-2 minutes)
“Writers, I am so proud of the work we did today. Today, I saw you making very deliberate, meaningful choices in how you wanted to present your work to your chosen audience. I also saw how hard you worked to make sure you checked the accuracy of your punctuation, spelling, and grammar, so that your audience was able to experience your writing in the best way possible.” / SIOP Feature: In this portion of the lesson, I will engage diverse learners through providing verbal feedback to students on their work (SIOP 29).
Minilesson structure adapted from Lucy Calkins and Beth Neville, Resources for Primary Writing, Units of Study for Primary Writing,: A Yearlong Curriculum, Lucy Calkins, Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH
Permission to copy for single classroom use