Instructional Focus Lesson Plan For

Grade 5

1.  Instructional Focus

·  Today’s lesson focuses on how text features make information accessible and usable.

2.  Instruction

·  Explain that text features are important aides in helping readers to comprehend content information.

·  Specific text features will be used as examples to show their use in obtaining information such as:

- Maps

- Charts

- Illustrations

- Timelines

- Graphics

- Icons

·  Show an example of a map. Demonstrate to learners that information can be obtained by either using the text or the map.

·  Show an example of a graph. Demonstrate to learners that the information can be made more comprehensible when it is shown with this text feature.

Instructional Example (use Power Point)

1. / Start at 900 E 20TH ST, MERCED on E 20TH ST going towards Glen AVE - go 0.1 mi
2. / Turn on GLEN AVE - go 0.5 mi
3. / Turn on E 27TH ST - go 0.4 mi
4. / Turn on GREEN ST - go 0.1 mi
5. / Turn R at Lilac Ave. MERCED

·  Teacher models through a think-aloud and shows the students how the information taken from the map is used to make the text directions easier to understand.

After I read the directions in text format, I did not get a clear understanding of where I needed to go. After looking at a map, I was able to see the route that I was given by the text directions. This is because a map, which is just one tool that we can use, makes text more comprehensible. Now, let’s take a look at another way that this type of feature can help us to understand text.

Favorite Pets in Mrs. Annhazel’s Class

The boys and girls in Mrs. Annhazel’s fifth grade class voted on their favorite pets. The most popular pet was the dog with 46% of the votes. The cat got 41% of the votes, followed by the hamster with 7%, the bird with 4% and the horse has 2% of the votes.

When I read the text that explained the pie chart, I felt confused by the use of percents and I did not have a clear vision of the results of the vote. Looking at the pie chart, I could quickly see which pet received the most votes. Now, let’s take a look at another text feature: the timeline. This next example will give text and a supporting timeline.

The Beginning of the Revolution

The French and Indian War saw the British pitted against the French, the Austrians, and the Spanish. This war raged across the globe. The war in the Americas started inauspiciously. George Washington was forced to surrender Fort Necessity in the Ohio Valley in 1754. The following year, British general Edward Braddock attempted to attack the French held Fort Duquesne. British troops were ambushed by the French and the Indians. Braddock was mortally wounded. It fell upon George Washington to extricate both British and Colonial forces from the wilderness.

In 1764, the British for the first time imposed a series of taxes designed specifically to raise revenue from the colonies. The tax, whose official name was the American Revenue Act, became popularly known as the Sugar Act. One of its major components was the raising of tariff on sugar. The act was combined with a greater attempt to enforce the existing tariffs.

The British felt that the colonists should share some of the continued burden of sustaining British troops in the colonies. The British secured passage from the British parliament of the Sugar Act, which raised the duty on sugar and other items imported into the colonies. Colonial protests forced the British to scale back the tariffs. The sugar tariffs were followed by the Quartering Act, forcing colonists to provide housing and food for British troops.

In 1765, a Stamp Tax was enacted. It imposed taxes on all legal documents (i.e. marriage licenses, newspapers, and 47 other documents). The colonists responded with vocal protests. The taxes hurt their pocketbooks.

/ / French and Indian War ends.
/ / Parliament passes The Stamp Act. Colonists protest.
/ / March 18. Stamp Act repealed, but parliament passes the Declaratory Act making laws binding on the colonies.
/ /
October. British troops arrive in Boston to enforce laws.
/ /
March. "The Boston Massacre."
/ / December. “Boston Tea Party.”
/ / January. First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia.
/ / April. Shots fired at Lexington and Concord.
George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.
/ / January. Thomas Paine's Common Sense published. / / July 4. Declaration of Independence ratified by the Congress. / / July. British forces arrive in New York to stop the rebellion.

When I read the text explaining the beginning of the Revolutionary War, not only did it take me a long time, but I got hung up on difficult text. When I looked at the timeline, I could easily see what had occurred and how one event led to the next. This is just another example of a how a text tool can help us understand information.

3.  Guided Practice

·  Read the text directions on how to get from Monterey to Merced, CA

·  Look at the map and understand how the text tool helps make the text more usable.

/ / /
Directions / Distance

/ 1. / Start out going West on CANNERY ROW toward FOAM ST. / <0.1 miles

/ 2. / Turn RIGHT onto FOAM ST. / <0.1 miles

/ 3. / Turn LEFT onto REESIDE AVE. / <0.1 miles

/ 4. / Turn LEFT onto LIGHTHOUSE AVE. / 0.7 miles

/ 5. / Turn SLIGHT LEFT onto DEL MONTE AVE. / 1.8 miles

/ 6. / Turn RIGHT onto ENGLISH AVE. / <0.1 miles

/ 7. / Merge onto CA-1 N. / 11.9 miles

/ 8. / Merge onto CA-156 E via exit number 414B toward CASTROVILLE/US-101/SAN JOSE. / 6.3 miles

/ 9. / Merge onto US-101 N toward HOLLISTER/SAN FRANCISCO. / 16.6 miles

/ 10. / Take the CA-25 S/US-101 S ramp toward HOLLISTER/SALINAS. / 0.1 miles

/ 11. / Turn LEFT onto CA-25/BLOOMFIELD AVE. / 0.6 miles

/ 12. / Turn LEFT onto BLOOMFIELD AVE/CR-G7. / 3.2 miles

/ 13. / Turn RIGHT onto PACHECO PASS HWY/CA-152 E. Continue to follow CA-152 E. / 62.7 miles

/ 14. / Take the CA-59 ramp toward MERCED. / 0.2 miles

/ 15. / Stay straight to go onto CA-59. / 15.0 miles

/ 16. / Merge onto CA-99 S/CA-140 E. / 0.6 miles

/ 17. / Take the CA-140 E exit toward MARIPOSA/YOSEMITE. / 0.2 miles

/ 18. / Turn LEFT onto YOSEMITE PKWY/CA-140/CA-99 BR. Continue to follow YOSEMITE PKWY/CA-140. / 0.1 miles

/ 19. / Turn LEFT onto GLEN AVE. / 0.2 miles

/ 20. / Turn RIGHT onto E 20TH ST. / <0.1 miles

/ End at 900 E 20th St, Merced, CA 95340-4052 US

·  Discuss how the text tool (map) made the text more understandable.

·  Notice how the icons on the text directions also enhance understanding.

4.  Independent Practice

·  Ask students to read the passage about the Boston Massacre.

·  Ask students to describe to a partner what is happening in the picture of the Boston Massacre.

·  Write a paragraph describing how the picture made the text more understandable.

The Boston Massacre (the killing of five men by British soldiers on March 5, 1770) was the culmination of civilian-military tensions that had been growing since royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768. The soldiers were in Boston to keep order, but townspeople viewed them as potential oppressors, competitors for jobs, and threats to social mores. Brawls became common.

In 1768, the Commissioners of Customs, who acquired their jobs in Britain and drew their pay from what they collected in America, were so intimidated by the resistance they met in Boston that they demanded military protection. Boston's fifteen thousand or so residents were clearly the worst malcontents on the North American continent. It was imperative that they be put in their place.

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Merced County Office of Education 2004